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Pure Electric Plane Takes to the Sky

 
2,315 views Aug 25, 2009
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Yuneec

Yuneec

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Sure we are excited about electric cars and their ability to displace petroleum, but who wouldn't be thrilled about the idea of a pure electric plane?

Since AllPlanesElectric.com hasn't been started yet we might as well talk about it here.

A few weeks ago a Chinese start-up called Yuneec International unveiled the world's first commercially produced pure electric aircraft, the E430.

The E430 is a small 2-seat aircraft that weighs less than 1000 pounds. It is powered entirely by electricity supplied by on-board lithium-ion polymer batteries running a 40Kw electric motor.

The aircraft has already flown about 20 hours in test flights.

The 28.6 pound lithium ion battery packs each store 30 amp-hours and the plane can be loaded with either 6 packs for a 2 hour flight or 10 packs for a 2-1/2 hour flight.

The plane is described as simple to fly, quiet, smooth, and vibration free.

In the video below the plane is shown flying in Camarillo CA before the OshKosh AirVenture show.

Pricing details have not yet been released.

Source (Yuneec)





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Comments (6)

  1. By Jason M. Hendler Posted: 8/25/2009 11:22am PDT

    Lyle, glad to see you expanding your repitoire (sp?). You know me, though, I believe fuel cell electric propulsion is the correct tech for small aircraft. Just slap a fuel cell in that thing and you can travel great distances. Large jets will use bio-fuels.
     
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  2. By Noel Park Posted: 8/25/2009 12:50pm PDT

    For one terrible moment my eyes played tricks on me. I thought I saw that the electricity was supplied by on board rubber bands!
    I think that this will give range anxiety a whole new (3rd) dimension. With a BEV you have to worry about how to recharge if you run out of range. With this thing, you have to worry about where to land! Brrrrr!! Talk about crying out for a range extender.
     
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  3. By Luke Posted: 8/25/2009 2:43pm PDT

    I'm a private pilot, and I think this is great news! With avgas usually being a couple of dollars more expensive than auto-gas, and with the other absurdly high costs associated with flying, an electric airplane makes a lot of sense. It may also be one of the few things that will finally get us past the 1950s airframes and engines that we fly now. Also, since recreational airplanes spend most of their time on the ground, the requirements for fast-charging is quite different than it is for cars -- just as hard, but different.
    Noel: Range planning is a big part of flight-planning, and the high-time pilots are very good about sharing their britches-soiling experiences. For an airplane, it really doesn't seem like it would be any different than flying with 100LL -- except that the endurance of a 2-4 seat aircraft is usually on the order of 4.5 hours (4 hours or 3.75 hours with minimum fuel reserves for the unexpected).
    Good fun! I'd love to fly again, but I need to spend my money at home, first. Plus, it seems a little crazy to go out joyriding in an aircraft that costs more than my house until my house is paid-off -- the costs really are absurd.
     
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  4. By Paul Posted: 8/26/2009 6:20pm PDT

    Actually, with the 10-cell LiPo packs, you could just consider the plane to have a 2 hour range plus the daytime-VFR reserve of 1/2 hour. The thing about Lithium Polymer packs is, they can be fully recharged in a little over 1 hour, and the plane could (nay, SHOULD) have an onboard charger. The charger would only weigh 15 pounds or so, and could be plugged into a 110v receptacle while you enjoyed your hamburger :)
    My only problem with it is the country of manufacture :(
     
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  5. By  rc airplanes Posted: 12/24/2009 6:56am PST

    Thanks for this great info
     
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  6. By  future flying cars Posted: 1/19/2010 6:44pm PST

    So that is pretty interesting, but what is with the huge drop in flight time with the addition of extra battery packs. It goes with 6 for two hours and you only gain a half hour by adding 4, seems like a great idea but still pretty inefficient
     
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