Originally published at: First All-Electric Training Fleet Planned for Colorado
Six H55-Powered B23 Energics Mark First U.S. Fleet Purchase.
Aircraft cost? Range & endurance? Useful load? Life of battery? Recharge time? Where does the airport get its power - probably coal and natural gas. Aviation diesel engines are also very quiet, see Diamond aircraft. Far more efficient and better for the environment than batteries.
Aircraft cost about $431,000, Endurance 1 hr with 30 min reserve, useful load 190 kg (418 lb), life of battery, 1000 cycles, time to recharge 1 hr. But the real number that matters most is cost of operations – about $7 hr assuming a cost of electricity of $0.20 per kWhr. Also, very little maintenance. (I drove my Chevy Bolt EV, 105,000 miles and except for tires, the total maintenance except for tires was changing the rear wiper blade twice.)
Looking at the where battery energy density is going, we already have lithium sulfur cells available in test quantities that have about twice the energy density of the current lithium ion with lower projected cost and a projected energy density of 3 times by 2030. This would provide 3 or 4 hours of range. Like it or not, this is the future and I can not wait to have an electric powered plane.
There is no case where fuel burning vehicles are less dirty than battery vehicles; none.
To say otherwise is repeating fossil fuel propaganda.
The airport could put in solar panels with storage; free “fuel” forever.
Kent, those are all good questions that I’m sure you can get answered if you just go to the manufacturer information..
But for the remainder of your comment, I want to remind you that airports get their energy from the same place as everybody else on the earth.
This makes total sense for a training operation.
Cheaper, quieter, more reliable, less maintenance.
Airports are a perfect venue for solar power with storage.
The cheapest, fastest to build, most reliable, most available power source; by far.
Hangar roofs and open spaces;
Free “Fuel” forever!
New battery technologies currently in Beta testing will make electric aircraft good for several hundred miles of range.
A Sling LSA which is similar in size is $140,000-$180,000.
It easily trumps this e-plane in range, endurance, and refueling time and practicality. Especially as a cross country airplane. At 1/3 the cost! If the flight school would forgo their virtue signaling they could have 3 times the airplanes, and each one would be better.
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