For those who don't know - Besides from making youtube videos Dagogo also makes music under the name "Burn Water". Go check it out, it's amazing music!!
A battery revolution would be huuuge for so many industries its insane that it isent talked about more. Im not sure if anyone is investing tons of money into reaserching on the subject but they really should. Super light and energy effecient as well as smaller and flatter smartphones, better electric cars and airoplanes. Better and smaller and flatter computers, I mean it would mean such a leap for humanity as a whole its obcsene
Hydrogen is the most energy dense fuel it is perfect for airplanes in combination with fuel cells. It would be great for cars and bikes too. High energy density means low weight. The problem is that making hydrogen is very energy demanding. Batteries are heavy and have a low energy density but charging them is easy and they efficient. They are becoming cheaper also. The car companies are at a split road and it seems most will go the battery road. In the future I believe hydrogen will be the king.
I think the battery you're looking for is a hydrogen fuel tank. Unfortunately hydrolysis is only 50% efficient. Whereas a battery charge is over 90%. But compressing hydrogen to liquid and putting it into a tank would have significantly more energy density than any other combustible fuel. Obviously traditional fuel is the cheaper route, but when the age after fossil fuels comes about, hydrogen via hydrolysis is going to be the solution for long distance planes and semi trucks.
you can't be more wrong mou, solar might still be more expensive than nuclear but the world doesn't run on nuclear. Countries like South Korea, France, and the US might for parts of their energy needs but most do not. Also nuclear is (whether we like it or not) not getting sufficient positive attention and funding to replace coal as people just don't like the idea of nuclear and are scared of it. That being said, the battle is not between nuclear and renewables but between coal/gas/oil (which are massively subsidized themselves by the way) vs renewables. And Solar is already being cheaper than coal in many countries and this trend is likely to continue as a lot of research is being placed in solar and other forms of renewables. Also, there is a huge global movement of people finally realising that combustibles are at their end because we have to do something about the climate now. With more and more countries joining these efforts, renewables for energy generation (and storage in batteries) and road transport is not only going to be used on a large scale, it is just around the corner. Furthermore, the countries and people are beginning to realize we don't only do this for the climate anymore, investing in renewables for your country, your car, your house is also financially beneficial and the products are often superior in all other ways also (maintenance, safety etc.), when a tech has economy on its side the rest will go by itself.
mou take your head out of your ass! Solar is taking off like wildfire, and will only accelerate with improving battery technologies. It is great where off grid power generation is needed. Silent, using the sun's energy for our needs is perfectly rational. My 1/4 section farm is totally run by solar, with only a small generator needed in the winter to charge the batteries periodically.
mou The solar installations HAVE quadrupled in the past 5 years worldwide. If you haven't built and used your own solar system, you have no idea what you are talking about. I have seen the benefits over the past 5 years....had to run a generator full time on my farm previously, as it is 13 miles away from grid power. Since installing my solar system, it runs flawlessly fulltime for 10 months out of the year, without touching the generator. December and January require an hour of charging per day with the generator. Do you see how much fuel savings I now have? It's still cheaper in most locals to buy your power off the power company, if that is an option...but for places where power is not available, solar is the cat's meow,
@David Moore it still will never do long term flights. Look at run times. Even the paramotor world has dipped in this electric crap. Flight times are 45 min at best while the gas counterparts are 4 hours of flight. I see it as a waste of time and disposable. We are already going to be experiencing a lithium and copper shortage in the future. People think that transportation will be like the book zero point energy. Its about time Engineers learn thermal dynamics and entropy. Im not a scientist or engineer but i read a hellacious amounts. The United Nations is just trying to force us with this bs so called green. The only way they will get their Agenda 21 control is to reduce population thus will reduce their so called "carbon" which show us in historical science that carbon dioxide shows no side effects and of course they are trying to change evidence these days. Just look at people declaring changes in identity. Historical and Observational science will never change.
Everything lets of a carbon foot print in other words it emits Co2 its just electricity lets off very low amounts over time will card that are powered by Oil and Diesel has a higher Carbon foot print. But it will be drastically be better and will save us more time to find a way to let put green house gases
This video is a very good summery of the state of the art. Well done. It gives a realistic outlook about the electric flight and its current technological capabilities.
@@Friek555 Still good enough. Plus, that should only be for the first stage of your training, after getting your license you should be able to just rent a plane for accumulating flight hours.
@@Friek555 still, that's pennies compared to petrol powered light aircraft. That being said, I don't want to be cynical but the company only has a prototype and those are their figures. I'm not entirely sure we'll actually get that efficiency in real life
I guess the savings is not having to pay for a FAA mandated engine overhaul. It still needs an annual inspection but that seems like mostly airframe. I’d be interested in seeing how this technology progresses.
You could put swimming pools on it, have a suite of rooms instead on one lousy seat made for dwarves, dining room serving up culinary delights, sexy floor shows; heck, the longer the better!...like the good old days.
Blakehx blimps are a GREAT use for electric propellers. Blimps move relatively slowly (although "Hybrid Blimps" that have a lifting-body design and are slightly heavier-than-air move quite a bit faster) so they don't need that much Thrust and a relatively small battery will do. The change in mass due to burning jet fuel actually creates problems with managing buoyancy that electric-propelled blimps don't have. Plus, blimps tend to have relatively long ground loading/unloading times, so taking 45 minutes to a couple hours to charge the batteries is far less of an inconvenience. Finally, blimps have a LOT of surface area that can easily be coated with thin-film solar panels for lightweight supplementary power generation to reduce the rate the batteries drain during daytime flight...
Technically, that is electric aircraft since most power in the world, including the US, is generated through fossil fuels. Charging a car with wall power is basically charging it with what a coal generator produced. gailtheactuary.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/us-electricity-generation-by-source-kwh.png
+Anderson Klein That statement is uninformed and short sighted. Do your research and you'll find quickly that the grid is much more efficient and is changing to clean sources all the time.
01:56 "the learning process is exactly the same as its petrol counterparts" I pity the poor student who trains in one of these and gets into a piston engine aircraft and wonders why the engine shuts down on a steep descent from altitude. Hint - carb icing.
Good point about the aircraft weight staying the same during the whole flight (i.e. not burning off fuel). I could watch 4 to 6 minute videos like this all day long. 10 to 15 minutes is a big time investment...
Thank you Cold Fusion , for making great videos as always, you have inspired me to make my very own channel.! An inspiration to many content creators..
Quality and innovation are the reason I started following you, quality and innovation are the reason why I still following this channel. You brilliant man!!!
It would be extremely difficult to power commercial aircraft fully with electricity without major changes on current aircraft design. Turboprop engines are ineffective at high altitudes where the air is much thinner when compared to a turbojet. Turboprop engines are just not fast enough without any form of combustion added for extra thrust. Planes would look absolutely different if they were to be powered by electricity, my guess if that it would be massive with a relative large wingspan and tons of facilities onboard to compensate for the slow travel time much like the concept of a cruise ship. Cost of a ticket could probably be the same given how much money is saved when fuel is removed from the equation.
Kevin Yeoh a even bigger problem is charging the plane. Take the 777 as an example, during takeoff, the engines power output is around 200,000HP. Imaging having to charge it, let alone charging multiple ones at the same time at an international airport. You need a whole nucleaf power plant to do it.
I have been flying electric RC planes and helicopters since 2003. Many of the guys that fly nitro powered planes and helicopters have changed over to electric power. The technology had really improved over the last 15 years. Electric planes are just as fast and faster than most nitro powered planes.
Electric propellers have the potential to be so much more powerful than gas propellers of similar size, and electricity is so much cheaper than jet fuel, that it actually makes sense to develop electric biplanes to allow for more battery weight. A biplane generates about 20% more Lift than a monoplane of the same wingspan/chord, and experience about 2x the drag (and so require 2x the thrust to maintain the same airspeed). If the battery of a monoplane is 15% of the weight and gives a range of 200 km, you could increase the battery size by 133% (for a 20% increase in the weight of the plane) and add a second wing and double the power of the propeller (or add a 2nd propeller) to extend the range to 233 km for a doubling of the electricity costs and the exact same airspeed capabilities. If the battery is less than 15% of the plane's weight to begin with the range extension becomes even more drastic- for instance if the battery is only 10% of the monoplane's weight, then you can extend range by 50% with a biplane and 200% increase in battery size. Added to all this, thin-film solar panels (which have a much better mass:power ratio than traditional multi-layer panels, and are far more aerodynamic) on the top surfaces of the plane could provide a further range-extension during daytime flight. In short, plane designers aren't yet thinking far enough outside the box, so to speak, when it comes to electric planes...
Anything electronic, whether car or a plane has the cool effect. Lots of instant power/torque but only limited by range. Thus the need to recharge which is a major inconvenience. We all agree that electric cars and planes are super expensive to manufacture and or buy and also with maintenance, only a limited number of folks or dealers can work on them with their complicated computer systems. With an electric car, if there’s a problem you pull over but with an e-plane, you go down. (Yes gas powered planes go down too but it’s rare as their range takes them further) The weight of electric planes alone are enough to make them more dangerous than fuel powered ones that can fly around dumping fuel in an emergency situation that electric planes which carry the same dead weight throughout the entire flight. We live in a busy world and having multiple planes at many airports stranded or waiting for a couple of hours to recharge is a slow waste of valuable time for the business. That means to keep passengers flying without delays you’d have to move them into different planes along with their luggage at different airports while their original plane charges. If you have to do this at every airport every 2-4 hours if they going a long distance of 7-15 hrs then it will actually cost the airports or the industry more money to operate. Bottom line is that these electric planes are a long way to become viable for the industry since most are for carrying cargo. It’s a bad investment for any airline company if intended for carrying passengers along with their luggage. Maybe for very short distances will it save fuel cost.
Electric planes will not gather steam until battery energy density reaches 10 MJ/kg . Currently its an abysmal 0.86 MJ/kg . Aviation fuel energy per kg is 42.8 MJ . This makes jet fuel roughly 50 times more energy dense per kg than the best lithuim ion batteries today .
Batteries are deadweight but what about Fusing batteries with SOLAR panels???? Wouldn't that help the power for long distances with less battery weight?
PowerhousePR yes, it would. But not by much. At best, covering the top of the plane with solar panels would only allow for a 5-10% increase in range/flight-time and perhaps a similarly small decrease in cost. It would be worthwhile from a physics standpoint, but it's probably not considered worth distracting the engineering teams with right now. It would be better to see them work on designs with larger (higher span and chord) wings with larger batteries and propellers, to be honest- even if you add a biplane wing for a mere 20% increase in Lift and 100% increase in Drag, if that allowed a tripling of battery-mass (say the batteries previously weighed less than 10% of the plane's total mass) that would still equate to a 50% increase in range after accounting for needing 2x the Thrust.
@@Northstar1989 The Range of the Plane of Calin Gologan, the Solar One increases the Range of the Plane about 100%. So, depending on the Aircraft, it makes Sense to do that. And if you have parked the Plane outside, it charges itself, for another Flight.
A blended wing or a flying wing would probably be the best design for electric airliners. You could cover the top of it with solar panels and it would consume a lot less juice than a traditional airliner with a fuselage due to better lift.
Hey, It's a start. I can see the dead weight issue could be a problem if the airplane was in a overweight situation but for a one or two passenger I think it will go far in the future. Very cool. I like the fan version. Looks like a small jet aircraft.
I'd like to point out what seems to me like a misuse of vocabulary: "$45 flight/hour to $1 flight/hour, a real quantum leap forwards". Quantum physics is the study of the absolutely tiniest matter in our universe, the definition of quantum: "In physics, a quantum (plural: quanta) is the minimum amount of any physical entity involved in an interaction." hence a "quantum leap forwards" sounds actually completely insignificant and minute, and I feel you are trying to express the exact opposite of that. Perhaps a 'giga leap forwards' or something may be more accurate.
Used scientifically then you are right but in literature it has the opposite meaning just like the word Theory. In this video the narrator used the literal meaning and not the scientific.
Actually one of the CEOs of a major airline, Ryanair, has been pushing prices down alot recently and according to him his company doesent actually make money from the flights anymore, but from other things like commercials and everything on the airports, I dont knwo any details so sorry if i am vauge but the point is that he thinks he will be able to make flying free of charge within 20 or so years. Of course it wouldent be at all luxourius but still. If you want more information you should google it its really interesting!
You can't run a business for free. City buses and subways aren't free, and passenger aircraft are much more expensive to operate and maintain (not to mention there's operating overhead, employee pay and insurance, etc).
I have always said this and I will continue to say it. Electric whatever is the future and always was. Electric motors are massively powerful compared to ICE. The issue has been and will continue to be batteries. Battery X is NOT the future. Certainly not if the inventor of LIION's next evolution does not succeed. Graphene capacitors will likely be the future of electric powered transportation. The one thing that electrics do to cut the costs on propeller flight is the massive degree of maintenance. There are reductions in vibration and this further reduces wear and tear on the air frame. Many of the cost savings on flight training hours are found there. If people only knew the degree of maintenance and checkups that are mandated on aircraft, they would then fully get why it is the safest way to travel.
LiIon Batteries already there and improving. You can see now Planes that having much more Range and Endurance, running on this Batteries. Supercapacitor can also be Solution for Towing Planes, because of the Need for Massive Energyconsumption, for a short Period of Towing Time. At the Ground, you can Charge them in Seconds. The Hole System is more robust for this Application. In this Case, it is not a Problem that the Endurance are less. You have a more Robust and saver System for this Application. ruclips.net/video/Gf5iPPyI33I/видео.html This is only an Example of Towing by myself.
More viable probably yes, but thoose solar panels would need to be able to endure harsh winds and and a temperature of minus 60 degrees. Im not sure how much weather in terms of sunshine or no sunshine would effect thier energy output but if they are not reliable in both bringing in energy and close to never faultering no matter how strong the storm or cold the weather, then they will just be a suppliment making the plane more effecient but not actually solving any of the problems electric planes are facing as of now. And building them that robust just to be a energy suppliment would probably cost more than it would save.... So in the future hopefully, but for now probably not.
That mostly depends on the total electric load versus the solar recharge rate. Even if simultaneous charging/discharging was not possible, a relay to switch the batteries from one state to the other is possible. Additionally, solar panel windows (even if internal to the structurally superior aviation-grade glass) would augment the rate of recharge significantly. Realistically, the technological advances that will be made before this could even be a fully fleshed commercial industry, will make the conversion inevitable, especially once energy density is not the functional limitation, but how much water is on board a commercial flight.
Indeed solar panels COULD extend the range. Not by much- but they've been used on battery-electric aircraft many times already, so we KNOW they work. And no, to answer one silly question they're panels of doped silicon (much like rocks are silicon oxides), they're NOT very vulnerable to the winds of subsonic flight- particularly if given a standard resistant coating to protect them from long-term wear-and-tear. A cloudy/rainy day CAN reduce their output by 10-25% though, so they're only a supplementary system to slightly improve range and cost (high-quality batteries cost more than ordinary PV panels) at best... Extremely high wingspan and wing chord is beneficial to allow for larger batteries on the plane anyways though (a 2x increase in Drag but a 20% increase in Lift can allow for a 50% range extension if it allows for a 200% increase in battery mass and capacity, but requires a doubling of Thrust, for instance...) so coating these large wings with solar panels while you're at it isn't particularly far-fetched...
Abdullah S. A mere 10% increase in flight time equates to a 21% increase in the size of the area you can fly to (more, actually, since you fly faster during cruise than lamding/takeoff). Thin film solar panels are more cost-effective than traditional PV, and putting them on an electric plane gives you all the economic benefits of BOTH a land-based solar panel (producing electricity) and a range extension similar to a much more costly expansion of the battery capacity. So yes, they're worthwhile as long as a range-extension is worthwhile...
The technology exist and since battery density is the bottle neck they keep making these components even more efficient each year. I can't wait for batteries to catch up. Its mind blowing to think what we will be able to do in the next 20 years.
the word "braking" refers to application of brakes on a vehicle. You need to add an "e" after the "r" to create the word "breaking" to refer to destroying something. BREAK, to break, to smash. BRAKE, to bring to a stop.
Adam Taylor I often suffer a bit of Spaghetti entanglement on my bench, but have not been able to quantise it. As for "great distances", well that might account for the disappearance of my end-snips, and screw from my lovely old French taught- band Galvo.?
Ali Raza There are several different chemistry for lithium battery. In that case, it could be lithium titanate. Kinda low capacity compared to LiPo or Li-ion, but low internal resistance so high power and fast charging.
I like the idea of both dual usage: using some electric and petrol at the same time, but also the idea of either or usage, for example all electric, or all fuel until one or the other runs out, or if one goes down or malfunctions. I feel the same about cars as well.
GREAT .... ( Coming through a ROOF, Near YOU ! ) ... Lived Aviation, most of my Life... & if "drone " landed on you, THEY ARE, UBER LIGHT... STUDY, THE : RISE & $$ " FALL" of Original Tesla cars.. Sooo, many Hollywood ppl. bought , ( got Stranded) & it's Hard to give them away ! ! Hmmm, you have, problems in a car, .. you pull over, .. In a plane, You go ,.. DOWN !!! .
no reference for 45 min charge....really????????????? prove it...besides way too little flight time next to worthless and electric to charge is NOT FREE
I'm most excited about this for learning to fly. I had to stop learning when I went back to education, flight hours are SO expensive here in the UK. Those light aircraft look gorgeous, and would be so cost efficient and environmentally friendly to fly.
Great stuff. The issue is not the capability of the electric motors....they are sweet. As always, the issue is that of the energy. We need a battery or energy source breakthrough.
i think the trick to electric planes will be developing ground-based launchers. if you can put all the energy/work into getting the plane airborne onto a ground based electromagnetic catapault (something similar to what aircraft carriers use, but adapted for civilian use) then the batteries/energy stored on the plane for actually flying and landing would be relatively minimal.
I have been flying RC planes and Heli’s that are all electric for the last 20 years. Many of the Nitro & Gas pilots have also converted to electric flight. Some guys still want the exhaust smell and noise/mess. But many have converted. It is very exciting seeing full size aircraft moving toward electric. Batteries have really come a long way in the last 20+ years. When I first started flying, lipos were very expensive. A small 3cell 1500 mah pack would cost about $80.00, today that same battery is about $10.00 however you can buy higher output cells for more $, but the option is yours!!
The 2003 patent for a fuel cell powered electric plane is now abandoned. With a Cessna 182 converted to electric using two Toyota Mirai fuel cells and 44 kg of hydrogen in 18 tanks of 60 liters. That will give the Cessna a range of 2650 miles. Enough to fly from LA to Honolulu. The race is on folks. The motor only needs 114 kw but carry one fuel cell as a backup. Total weight of hydrogen and fuel cells 800 lbs.
Are you sure about that last number? Total weight of hydrogen and fuel cells cannot be 800lbs. A mirai fuel cell weighs 56kg. And the hydrogen tank in a mirai which can only hold 5kg of hydrogen, weighs 87kg. There are 18 tanks(albeit smaller) in this aircraft. Even if we consider each to weigh 40kg, that's 720kg for the 18 hydrogen tanks alone. So the total weight is, 720 kg for the tanks, 44 kg for the hydrogen, 112 kg for the 2 fuel cell stacks. That's 876kg. Or 1930lbs.
Could you please do a video on future spaceflight methods? I feel like your incredible research, and editing skills could bring attention to revolutionary space tech.
A colleague of mine graduated on comparing Pipistrel Alpha and Pipistrel Alpha Electric. Turns out you can't make a 150NM route without a second pack of batteries or to stop for recharge, while gasoline powered Alpha has no troubles here. So you would need to rent a gasoline engined one for that part of pilot training.
2:14 I thought of this before on my own. If an electric plane is also a glider, an electric that also can glide or a glider. Start with a tow or the propeller to take off. Turn the electric powered propellor on and fly the plane to a given altitude. When at this altitude turn the engine off and glide to recharge the batteries. You can go forever I am thinking.
Great vid and thanks for posting. One error I believe however is when you say that the electric trainer planes will not change the learning experience, just lower the cost. A big part of learning to fly is powerplant. Much is taught about how it works, how to make it work best, what can go wrong, what to do when it goes wrong, etc. If you fly fuel injected planes but don't learn about carburetors, you are going to be in trouble if you ever fly an old plane and the carb ices up. Same thing if you fly electrics - you will need to learn all about the electric motor, controller, batteries, etc. but you also still need to learn about internal combustion engine-driven planes. Eventually the older tech will disappear but let's not stop teaching it quite yet.
This is all good and all but as you said in the video about the battery limitations. I'm in training right now with over 40 hrs of flying, after a bit more flying I'm going to do ppl navigation training which requires the aircraft to be in the air for at least 2 to 3 hrs. This is something the Electric Planes can't do. But it would be useful for the first 30-40 hrs which will also keep the cost down.
I'm impressed at the capabilities from these planes. I had been following electric plans mildly but this could really affect regional flights in the short future. Some serious work is going into the electric motor since it seems to be the centerpiece of clean travel.
For those who don't know - Besides from making youtube videos Dagogo also makes music under the name "Burn Water". Go check it out, it's amazing music!!
The beauty is that airfoil will deadstick almost as nice as a glider!! Fantastic progress in aviation!
the name might be Coldfusion but the content is 🔥🔥🔥
Coldfusion is too ""
Fawzy utd firefusion
Fawzy utd litaf
iameagleVlogs
Coldfusion is so much energy in small container without it getting too hot in temperature 🤒...
Can't wait for the lilium jet to get going. That'll be amazing for the backyard aviation industry
There has to be a huge battery technology breakthrough before commercial airliners can even think about electricity
thats why they use hybrid systems
A battery revolution would be huuuge for so many industries its insane that it isent talked about more. Im not sure if anyone is investing tons of money into reaserching on the subject but they really should. Super light and energy effecient as well as smaller and flatter smartphones, better electric cars and airoplanes. Better and smaller and flatter computers, I mean it would mean such a leap for humanity as a whole its obcsene
Hydrogen is the most energy dense fuel it is perfect for airplanes in combination with fuel cells. It would be great for cars and bikes too. High energy density means low weight. The problem is that making hydrogen is very energy demanding. Batteries are heavy and have a low energy density but charging them is easy and they efficient. They are becoming cheaper also. The car companies are at a split road and it seems most will go the battery road. In the future I believe hydrogen will be the king.
I think the battery you're looking for is a hydrogen fuel tank.
Unfortunately hydrolysis is only 50% efficient. Whereas a battery charge is over 90%. But compressing hydrogen to liquid and putting it into a tank would have significantly more energy density than any other combustible fuel.
Obviously traditional fuel is the cheaper route, but when the age after fossil fuels comes about, hydrogen via hydrolysis is going to be the solution for long distance planes and semi trucks.
If we can store energy in liquid hydrogen that might be the end game of hydrogen as fuel. Who knows if fusion comes in before that happens.
You revive my hope for humanity, and inspire me to learn more about science and technology
How big is Siemens?
Rowland Alexander Interesting suggestion....
I'm about 6' 0"
Oh, that's not me!
I thinks it's in the top 100 of largest companies in the world. Not top ten, but still huge.
It's not just size its been around for ages.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siemens 351,000 employees, $125 billion in assets. Quite big, I'd say.
Dagogos voice is so soothing. Puts me to sleep.
Going to be an insane world here in the next 10 years.
jokerkdk if we get there.
mou Why do you think it will be more expensive?
you can't be more wrong mou, solar might still be more expensive than nuclear but the world doesn't run on nuclear. Countries like South Korea, France, and the US might for parts of their energy needs but most do not. Also nuclear is (whether we like it or not) not getting sufficient positive attention and funding to replace coal as people just don't like the idea of nuclear and are scared of it.
That being said, the battle is not between nuclear and renewables but between coal/gas/oil (which are massively subsidized themselves by the way) vs renewables. And Solar is already being cheaper than coal in many countries and this trend is likely to continue as a lot of research is being placed in solar and other forms of renewables. Also, there is a huge global movement of people finally realising that combustibles are at their end because we have to do something about the climate now. With more and more countries joining these efforts, renewables for energy generation (and storage in batteries) and road transport is not only going to be used on a large scale, it is just around the corner. Furthermore, the countries and people are beginning to realize we don't only do this for the climate anymore, investing in renewables for your country, your car, your house is also financially beneficial and the products are often superior in all other ways also (maintenance, safety etc.), when a tech has economy on its side the rest will go by itself.
mou take your head out of your ass! Solar is taking off like wildfire, and will only accelerate with improving battery technologies. It is great where off grid power generation is needed. Silent, using the sun's energy for our needs is perfectly rational. My 1/4 section farm is totally run by solar, with only a small generator needed in the winter to charge the batteries periodically.
mou The solar installations HAVE quadrupled in the past 5 years worldwide. If you haven't built and used your own solar system, you have no idea what you are talking about. I have seen the benefits over the past 5 years....had to run a generator full time on my farm previously, as it is 13 miles away from grid power. Since installing my solar system, it runs flawlessly fulltime for 10 months out of the year, without touching the generator. December and January require an hour of charging per day with the generator. Do you see how much fuel savings I now have? It's still cheaper in most locals to buy your power off the power company, if that is an option...but for places where power is not available, solar is the cat's meow,
A video about Pipistrel company would be interesting. Small company but in forefront of personal aero transport.
TenSapphires im from Slovenia
Thank you NeXuS
I would love to see Pipistrel come up with a competitor to the Piper M350 and Eclipse 550
You want an electric plane to do 1500 miles and weigh 2 tons ?!
Can you do a video about the development of molecular cars of the nobel prize winners in Chemistry? That would be awesome!
Nobel*
At the beginning of a video i'm always waiting for that smooth: 'hi, welcome to another ColdFusion video'
Sincerely I admire the way you you make videos and the narration is just the way it should be. Well done 👏👏
Lemmino and Coldfusion are truly in the class of their own...
This is great, we are now scratching the surface of zero emissions air travel.
Lol. No such thing as zero emissions with this fake climate change hoax. Im in Aerospace.
@David Moore it still will never do long term flights. Look at run times. Even the paramotor world has dipped in this electric crap. Flight times are 45 min at best while the gas counterparts are 4 hours of flight. I see it as a waste of time and disposable. We are already going to be experiencing a lithium and copper shortage in the future. People think that transportation will be like the book zero point energy. Its about time Engineers learn thermal dynamics and entropy. Im not a scientist or engineer but i read a hellacious amounts. The United Nations is just trying to force us with this bs so called green. The only way they will get their Agenda 21 control is to reduce population thus will reduce their so called "carbon" which show us in historical science that carbon dioxide shows no side effects and of course they are trying to change evidence these days. Just look at people declaring changes in identity. Historical and Observational science will never change.
Everything lets of a carbon foot print in other words it emits Co2 its just electricity lets off very low amounts over time will card that are powered by Oil and Diesel has a higher Carbon foot print. But it will be drastically be better and will save us more time to find a way to let put green house gases
Lance Dooley and Lance tell me how Climate Change is a hoax
This video is a very good summery of the state of the art. Well done. It gives a realistic outlook about the electric flight and its current technological capabilities.
Do a video about new generation of Lithium batteries.
like 'Lithium-Glass Battery'
And lithium-air batteries.
Andy Spark and Lithium-cocaine batteries
Would those lithium variations be...
bipolar??
Oh, yes... and remind me where you actually buy some of those?
Alibaba dot com has some for $100 USD.
The song starting at 4:23 is lovely.
I love how these are so informal and the hype is kept at a minimum level
I swear this Channel and Lemmino are the best two channels on youtube.
$1 per flight hour ?? 😱😱😱
Well that's just the fuel/electricity cost. Of course you would still have to pay your flight instructor etc.
@@Friek555 Still good enough. Plus, that should only be for the first stage of your training, after getting your license you should be able to just rent a plane for accumulating flight hours.
@@Friek555 still, that's pennies compared to petrol powered light aircraft. That being said, I don't want to be cynical but the company only has a prototype and those are their figures. I'm not entirely sure we'll actually get that efficiency in real life
@@hydrochloricacid2146 Estimates love to be too low.
I guess the savings is not having to pay for a FAA mandated engine overhaul. It still needs an annual inspection but that seems like mostly airframe. I’d be interested in seeing how this technology progresses.
Watching your videos is simply pleasure
Awesome, another ColdFusion video!
A video on award-winning Pipistrel would be interesting. They've achieved amazing things for a small startup.
Just need to make a cross between an airplane and a blimp! An all electric blimp would be pretty easy, only downside is the speed!
You could put swimming pools on it, have a suite of rooms instead on one lousy seat made for dwarves, dining room serving up culinary delights, sexy floor shows; heck, the longer the better!...like the good old days.
Hahaha, True! With the price of flights, getting there should be more than half the fun!
Blakehx blimps are a GREAT use for electric propellers. Blimps move relatively slowly (although "Hybrid Blimps" that have a lifting-body design and are slightly heavier-than-air move quite a bit faster) so they don't need that much Thrust and a relatively small battery will do. The change in mass due to burning jet fuel actually creates problems with managing buoyancy that electric-propelled blimps don't have. Plus, blimps tend to have relatively long ground loading/unloading times, so taking 45 minutes to a couple hours to charge the batteries is far less of an inconvenience. Finally, blimps have a LOT of surface area that can easily be coated with thin-film solar panels for lightweight supplementary power generation to reduce the rate the batteries drain during daytime flight...
Sounds like an aerial cruiseship =D
i like the Tagline "subscribe to new thinking" thank you for all the videos :)
Just found your channel. Very professional, writing, narration, and research.
Not only planes, a new ColdFusion video as well!
Trump's gonna fund research into coal-powered aircraft. lol
Technically, that is electric aircraft since most power in the world, including the US, is generated through fossil fuels. Charging a car with wall power is basically charging it with what a coal generator produced.
gailtheactuary.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/us-electricity-generation-by-source-kwh.png
Anderson Klein eh. we have solar panels that run our car. off grid.
+Anderson Klein That statement is uninformed and short sighted. Do your research and you'll find quickly that the grid is much more efficient and is changing to clean sources all the time.
In Brazil we get our electricity 80% from hydroelectric powerplants, but we don't have a market for electric cars. That's is very annoying.
Lemmy Fuque you mean solar power? Sun is basically a giant fusion machine
One of the best channels on RUclips. Deserves millions more subscribers.
01:56 "the learning process is exactly the same as its petrol counterparts"
I pity the poor student who trains in one of these and gets into a piston engine aircraft and wonders why the engine shuts down on a steep descent from altitude.
Hint - carb icing.
Good point about the aircraft weight staying the same during the whole flight (i.e. not burning off fuel). I could watch 4 to 6 minute videos like this all day long. 10 to 15 minutes is a big time investment...
Thank you Cold Fusion , for making great videos as always, you have inspired me to make my very own channel.! An inspiration to many content creators..
The intro of this video is lit af.
i would like to see more on Electric cars
Quality and innovation are the reason I started following you, quality and innovation are the reason why I still following this channel. You brilliant man!!!
It would be extremely difficult to power commercial aircraft fully with electricity without major changes on current aircraft design. Turboprop engines are ineffective at high altitudes where the air is much thinner when compared to a turbojet. Turboprop engines are just not fast enough without any form of combustion added for extra thrust. Planes would look absolutely different if they were to be powered by electricity, my guess if that it would be massive with a relative large wingspan and tons of facilities onboard to compensate for the slow travel time much like the concept of a cruise ship. Cost of a ticket could probably be the same given how much money is saved when fuel is removed from the equation.
Kevin Yeoh fuel actually is a really small part of a ticket price
Kevin Yeoh a even bigger problem is charging the plane. Take the 777 as an example, during takeoff, the engines power output is around 200,000HP. Imaging having to charge it, let alone charging multiple ones at the same time at an international airport. You need a whole nucleaf power plant to do it.
Actually. Russia still has a turbo prop bomber in service. It can reach speeds up to 600km an hour and cruises up to 30000 feet as well
Turboprops are jet engines with a propeller and can be designed to go just as high as jets.
Henry Chan how do you know that?
build the fuselage as one big battery! duel purpose less weight more range. great concept, becoming reality! good video
What microphone are you using? It sounds great.
Tudor Ioneasa *Microsoft Mic*
I have been flying electric RC planes and helicopters since 2003. Many of the guys that fly nitro powered planes and helicopters have changed over to electric power. The technology had really improved over the last 15 years. Electric planes are just as fast and faster than most nitro powered planes.
Electric propellers have the potential to be so much more powerful than gas propellers of similar size, and electricity is so much cheaper than jet fuel, that it actually makes sense to develop electric biplanes to allow for more battery weight. A biplane generates about 20% more Lift than a monoplane of the same wingspan/chord, and experience about 2x the drag (and so require 2x the thrust to maintain the same airspeed). If the battery of a monoplane is 15% of the weight and gives a range of 200 km, you could increase the battery size by 133% (for a 20% increase in the weight of the plane) and add a second wing and double the power of the propeller (or add a 2nd propeller) to extend the range to 233 km for a doubling of the electricity costs and the exact same airspeed capabilities. If the battery is less than 15% of the plane's weight to begin with the range extension becomes even more drastic- for instance if the battery is only 10% of the monoplane's weight, then you can extend range by 50% with a biplane and 200% increase in battery size. Added to all this, thin-film solar panels (which have a much better mass:power ratio than traditional multi-layer panels, and are far more aerodynamic) on the top surfaces of the plane could provide a further range-extension during daytime flight. In short, plane designers aren't yet thinking far enough outside the box, so to speak, when it comes to electric planes...
The most efficient biplane has one wing in front of the other, such as the Piaggio Avanti.
Anything electronic, whether car or a plane has the cool effect. Lots of instant power/torque but only limited by range. Thus the need to recharge which is a major inconvenience.
We all agree that electric cars and planes are super expensive to manufacture and or buy and also with maintenance, only a limited number of folks or dealers can work on them with their complicated computer systems.
With an electric car, if there’s a problem you pull over but with an e-plane, you go down. (Yes gas powered planes go down too but it’s rare as their range takes them further) The weight of electric planes alone are enough to make them more dangerous than fuel powered ones that can fly around dumping fuel in an emergency situation that electric planes which carry the same dead weight throughout the entire flight.
We live in a busy world and having multiple planes at many airports stranded or waiting for a couple of hours to recharge is a slow waste of valuable time for the business. That means to keep passengers flying without delays you’d have to move them into different planes along with their luggage at different airports while their original plane charges. If you have to do this at every airport every 2-4 hours if they going a long distance of 7-15 hrs then it will actually cost the airports or the industry more money to operate.
Bottom line is that these electric planes are a long way to become viable for the industry since most are for carrying cargo. It’s a bad investment for any airline company if intended for carrying passengers along with their luggage. Maybe for very short distances will it save fuel cost.
Electric planes will not gather steam until battery energy density reaches 10 MJ/kg . Currently its an abysmal 0.86 MJ/kg . Aviation fuel energy per kg is 42.8 MJ . This makes jet fuel roughly 50 times more energy dense per kg than the best lithuim ion batteries today .
Batteries are deadweight but what about Fusing batteries with SOLAR panels????
Wouldn't that help the power for long distances with less battery weight?
PowerhousePR yes, it would. But not by much. At best, covering the top of the plane with solar panels would only allow for a 5-10% increase in range/flight-time and perhaps a similarly small decrease in cost. It would be worthwhile from a physics standpoint, but it's probably not considered worth distracting the engineering teams with right now. It would be better to see them work on designs with larger (higher span and chord) wings with larger batteries and propellers, to be honest- even if you add a biplane wing for a mere 20% increase in Lift and 100% increase in Drag, if that allowed a tripling of battery-mass (say the batteries previously weighed less than 10% of the plane's total mass) that would still equate to a 50% increase in range after accounting for needing 2x the Thrust.
@@Northstar1989 The Range of the Plane of Calin Gologan, the Solar One increases the Range of the Plane about 100%. So, depending on the Aircraft, it makes Sense to do that. And if you have parked the Plane outside, it charges itself, for another Flight.
A blended wing or a flying wing would probably be the best design for electric airliners. You could cover the top of it with solar panels and it would consume a lot less juice than a traditional airliner with a fuselage due to better lift.
I wish i had this plane's battery on my phone
not sure it would fit in your pocket bro
Awesome vid. Nice work. In terms of human history, electric hybrid craft are but a blink away.
The plane you put into the thumbnail is the Pipistrel Panthera and that is most certainly NOT an electric aircraft.
Computer You know nothing about Pipistriel
It has 3 versions: petrol, hybrid or electric. Pick one.
Hey, It's a start. I can see the dead weight issue could be a problem if the airplane was in a overweight situation but for a one or two passenger I think it will go far in the future. Very cool. I like the fan version. Looks like a small jet aircraft.
I'd like to point out what seems to me like a misuse of vocabulary: "$45 flight/hour to $1 flight/hour, a real quantum leap forwards". Quantum physics is the study of the absolutely tiniest matter in our universe, the definition of quantum: "In physics, a quantum (plural: quanta) is the minimum amount of any physical entity involved in an interaction." hence a "quantum leap forwards" sounds actually completely insignificant and minute, and I feel you are trying to express the exact opposite of that. Perhaps a 'giga leap forwards' or something may be more accurate.
Used scientifically then you are right but in literature it has the opposite meaning just like the word Theory. In this video the narrator used the literal meaning and not the scientific.
Wow literal pie in the sky.
So eventually there will be a point where Airline tickets will get mega cheap? Not like 200$ to 0$ but more like 200$ to 50$
Once jumbo jets can redial use electricity. Will take much longer than these planes to develop.
Actually one of the CEOs of a major airline, Ryanair, has been pushing prices down alot recently and according to him his company doesent actually make money from the flights anymore, but from other things like commercials and everything on the airports, I dont knwo any details so sorry if i am vauge but the point is that he thinks he will be able to make flying free of charge within 20 or so years. Of course it wouldent be at all luxourius but still. If you want more information you should google it its really interesting!
You can't run a business for free. City buses and subways aren't free, and passenger aircraft are much more expensive to operate and maintain (not to mention there's operating overhead, employee pay and insurance, etc).
prices in europe are in the range of 50-200$. you do not need electric planes for that.
jet engines can't be made electric and there are no electric plane engines powerful enough to compete with jet engines
Yay all 3 my fav RUclipsr upload videos about planes
I have always said this and I will continue to say it. Electric whatever is the future and always was. Electric motors are massively powerful compared to ICE. The issue has been and will continue to be batteries. Battery X is NOT the future. Certainly not if the inventor of LIION's next evolution does not succeed. Graphene capacitors will likely be the future of electric powered transportation.
The one thing that electrics do to cut the costs on propeller flight is the massive degree of maintenance. There are reductions in vibration and this further reduces wear and tear on the air frame. Many of the cost savings on flight training hours are found there. If people only knew the degree of maintenance and checkups that are mandated on aircraft, they would then fully get why it is the safest way to travel.
That can be fixed by having the pilot pedal to recharge the batteries , afterall he is just sitting there , foot rudders can be moved to hand controls
LiIon Batteries already there and improving. You can see now Planes that having much more Range and Endurance, running on this Batteries. Supercapacitor can also be Solution for Towing Planes, because of the Need for Massive Energyconsumption, for a short Period of Towing Time. At the Ground, you can Charge them in Seconds. The Hole System is more robust for this Application. In this Case, it is not a Problem that the Endurance are less. You have a more Robust and saver System for this Application. ruclips.net/video/Gf5iPPyI33I/видео.html This is only an Example of Towing by myself.
This makes me happy because commercial airliners might go back to propeller driven in next few decades.
"Electric planes are here"
FUCK!
this is what news is supposed to be. fantastic channel. thank you & well done
pipistrel GO Slovenia
who's slow..venia now???
2:42 A quantum leap is the smallest change possible. :P
gasoline has 50 to 100 times more energy density.
Most of that energy is wasted in the form of heat and sound. Causing severe pollution.
@@Manu-jc2sx well it's either that or no planes at all. These electric planes are silly dreams.
Your contributuion to the wisdom of the planet is miraculous. Thank you!!
Solar panels could also extend the range.
More viable probably yes, but thoose solar panels would need to be able to endure harsh winds and and a temperature of minus 60 degrees. Im not sure how much weather in terms of sunshine or no sunshine would effect thier energy output but if they are not reliable in both bringing in energy and close to never faultering no matter how strong the storm or cold the weather, then they will just be a suppliment making the plane more effecient but not actually solving any of the problems electric planes are facing as of now. And building them that robust just to be a energy suppliment would probably cost more than it would save.... So in the future hopefully, but for now probably not.
neergonex not really, it's adding weight and adding power. It's like gaining the upper hand then shooting yourself in the foot
That mostly depends on the total electric load versus the solar recharge rate. Even if simultaneous charging/discharging was not possible, a relay to switch the batteries from one state to the other is possible. Additionally, solar panel windows (even if internal to the structurally superior aviation-grade glass) would augment the rate of recharge significantly. Realistically, the technological advances that will be made before this could even be a fully fleshed commercial industry, will make the conversion inevitable, especially once energy density is not the functional limitation, but how much water is on board a commercial flight.
Indeed solar panels COULD extend the range. Not by much- but they've been used on battery-electric aircraft many times already, so we KNOW they work. And no, to answer one silly question they're panels of doped silicon (much like rocks are silicon oxides), they're NOT very vulnerable to the winds of subsonic flight- particularly if given a standard resistant coating to protect them from long-term wear-and-tear. A cloudy/rainy day CAN reduce their output by 10-25% though, so they're only a supplementary system to slightly improve range and cost (high-quality batteries cost more than ordinary PV panels) at best... Extremely high wingspan and wing chord is beneficial to allow for larger batteries on the plane anyways though (a 2x increase in Drag but a 20% increase in Lift can allow for a 50% range extension if it allows for a 200% increase in battery mass and capacity, but requires a doubling of Thrust, for instance...) so coating these large wings with solar panels while you're at it isn't particularly far-fetched...
Abdullah S. A mere 10% increase in flight time equates to a 21% increase in the size of the area you can fly to (more, actually, since you fly faster during cruise than lamding/takeoff). Thin film solar panels are more cost-effective than traditional PV, and putting them on an electric plane gives you all the economic benefits of BOTH a land-based solar panel (producing electricity) and a range extension similar to a much more costly expansion of the battery capacity. So yes, they're worthwhile as long as a range-extension is worthwhile...
The technology exist and since battery density is the bottle neck they keep making these components even more efficient each year. I can't wait for batteries to catch up. Its mind blowing to think what we will be able to do in the next 20 years.
A side note: in physics a "quantum leap" is actually the smallest leap possible, please don't use it to describe a massive or ground braking leap.
yoshyoka A quantum leap actually refers to the ability of an object to traverse great distances thought impossible, hence quantum entanglement
the word "braking" refers to application of brakes on a vehicle. You need to add an "e" after the "r" to create the word "breaking" to refer to destroying something. BREAK, to break, to smash. BRAKE, to bring to a stop.
Adam Taylor
I often suffer a bit of Spaghetti entanglement on my bench, but have not been able to quantise it. As for "great distances", well that might account for the disappearance of my end-snips, and screw from my lovely old French taught- band Galvo.?
I think you do a fanominal job on your videos. Love your channel
y don't they add solar panels on wings.....?
which can increase its endurance....
Unfortunately too inefficient. The extra weight lowers the battery life more than the panels increase it.
Didn't you guys hear about Solar Impulse 2 ??!! It circumnavigated the earth, in several stages. It's an electric plane with solar panels
yes, but it's as big as the Airbus A380 and can barely fit the weight of 1 person and minimal supplies
@@HeartofGoldLifeboat There is very thin solar PV out there. Some of it is very bendable and light.
@@HeartofGoldLifeboat there are flexible solar panels that could be used for making the body of the aircraft.
I remember subscribing to this guy so long ago when he had a couple thousand subscribers haha glad to see his channel growing high quality videos
How are they able to charge that huge battery in 45 minutes while my iphone takes roughly 2 hours -_- :/ Somebody?? please elaborate...
Using very high power and by other measures, i.e. by charging multiple cells simultaneously.
really high voltage input
don't try this at home since it cause note7 to exist
Ali Raza
There are several different chemistry for lithium battery.
In that case, it could be lithium titanate. Kinda low capacity compared to LiPo or Li-ion, but low internal resistance so high power and fast charging.
Right.. Thanks :)
Ali Raza *You a very stupid, go cook a curry u stooge*
I kept ignoring this video, until I saw it was by Coldfusion. Your shits the best man, keep it up.
Nice toys, just like electric cars.
Yeah, toys you can't even afford.
Toys for rich.
I like the idea of both dual usage: using some electric and petrol at the same time, but also the idea of either or usage, for example all electric, or all fuel until one or the other runs out, or if one goes down or malfunctions. I feel the same about cars as well.
GREAT .... ( Coming through a ROOF, Near YOU ! ) ... Lived Aviation, most of my Life... & if "drone " landed on you, THEY ARE, UBER LIGHT... STUDY, THE : RISE & $$ " FALL" of Original Tesla cars.. Sooo, many Hollywood ppl. bought , ( got Stranded) & it's Hard to give them away ! ! Hmmm, you have, problems in a car, .. you pull over, .. In a plane,
You go ,.. DOWN !!!
.
I need this in 2 years! Hurry!
no reference for 45 min charge....really????????????? prove it...besides way too little flight time next to worthless and electric to charge is NOT FREE
Can’t wait to see how things have evolved in five years time.
I'm most excited about this for learning to fly. I had to stop learning when I went back to education, flight hours are SO expensive here in the UK. Those light aircraft look gorgeous, and would be so cost efficient and environmentally friendly to fly.
Great stuff.
The issue is not the capability of the electric motors....they are sweet.
As always, the issue is that of the energy.
We need a battery or energy source breakthrough.
i think the trick to electric planes will be developing ground-based launchers. if you can put all the energy/work into getting the plane airborne onto a ground based electromagnetic catapault (something similar to what aircraft carriers use, but adapted for civilian use) then the batteries/energy stored on the plane for actually flying and landing would be relatively minimal.
I have been flying RC planes and Heli’s that are all electric for the last 20 years. Many of the Nitro & Gas pilots have also converted to electric flight. Some guys still want the exhaust smell and noise/mess. But many have converted.
It is very exciting seeing full size aircraft moving toward electric. Batteries have really come a long way in the last 20+ years. When I first started flying, lipos were very expensive. A small 3cell 1500 mah pack would cost about $80.00, today that same battery is about $10.00 however you can buy higher output cells for more $, but the option is yours!!
Production quality going up. You're doing a great job.
The 2003 patent for a fuel cell powered electric plane is now abandoned. With a Cessna 182 converted to electric using two Toyota Mirai fuel cells and 44 kg of hydrogen in 18 tanks of 60 liters. That will give the Cessna a range of 2650 miles. Enough to fly from LA to Honolulu.
The race is on folks.
The motor only needs 114 kw but carry one fuel cell as a backup. Total weight of hydrogen and fuel cells 800 lbs.
Are you sure about that last number?
Total weight of hydrogen and fuel cells cannot be 800lbs.
A mirai fuel cell weighs 56kg.
And the hydrogen tank in a mirai which can only hold 5kg of hydrogen, weighs 87kg. There are 18 tanks(albeit smaller) in this aircraft. Even if we consider each to weigh 40kg, that's 720kg for the 18 hydrogen tanks alone.
So the total weight is,
720 kg for the tanks, 44 kg for the hydrogen, 112 kg for the 2 fuel cell stacks.
That's 876kg. Or 1930lbs.
45 mins. to charge the batteries,that's less time than some LiPos for RC electric model planes.Awesome.
Could you please do a video on future spaceflight methods? I feel like your incredible research, and editing skills could bring attention to revolutionary space tech.
This was my Bachelor Graduation thesis in Engineering, 1 year ago !!
It's really cool!!!
I love your video editing thats awsome
the music is so soothing 🤤
Great video! We need to be pouring our resources into new battery technology. That is the only thing limiting electric transportation.
45 minutes to charge a plane? That's insanely cool!
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK DAGOGO ALWAYS INFORMATIVE AND RELIABLE. CHEERS FROM JAMAICA
What a time to major in Electrical Engineering ;)
I am watching all your videos, try to add new video every day. You are amazing.
A colleague of mine graduated on comparing Pipistrel Alpha and Pipistrel Alpha Electric. Turns out you can't make a 150NM route without a second pack of batteries or to stop for recharge, while gasoline powered Alpha has no troubles here. So you would need to rent a gasoline engined one for that part of pilot training.
bro..your videos are premium
Skydiving could be cheaper than the tunnel!
hm.. those Siemens planes look nice man.. would love to work on those :d maybe for my next job xD
2:14 I thought of this before on my own. If an electric plane is also a glider, an electric that also can glide or a glider. Start with a tow or the propeller to take off. Turn the electric powered propellor on and fly the plane to a given altitude. When at this altitude turn the engine off and glide to recharge the batteries. You can go forever I am thinking.
Very interesting for the future. If the endurance just gets better.
Great vid and thanks for posting. One error I believe however is when you say that the electric trainer planes will not change the learning experience, just lower the cost. A big part of learning to fly is powerplant. Much is taught about how it works, how to make it work best, what can go wrong, what to do when it goes wrong, etc. If you fly fuel injected planes but don't learn about carburetors, you are going to be in trouble if you ever fly an old plane and the carb ices up. Same thing if you fly electrics - you will need to learn all about the electric motor, controller, batteries, etc. but you also still need to learn about internal combustion engine-driven planes. Eventually the older tech will disappear but let's not stop teaching it quite yet.
This is all good and all but as you said in the video about the battery limitations. I'm in training right now with over 40 hrs of flying, after a bit more flying I'm going to do ppl navigation training which requires the aircraft to be in the air for at least 2 to 3 hrs. This is something the Electric Planes can't do. But it would be useful for the first 30-40 hrs which will also keep the cost down.
I'm impressed at the capabilities from these planes. I had been following electric plans mildly but this could really affect regional flights in the short future. Some serious work is going into the electric motor since it seems to be the centerpiece of clean travel.
Nice gadget to fly in thunder storm.