90 seat electric aircraft that can fly 500 miles with 6x times better efficiency

90 seat electric aircraft that can fly 500 miles with 6x times better efficiency

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[rogerphelps]

Please use the correct term for energy density. It is watt hours per kilogram. Watts per kilogram is power density which may be of interest when determining the power available for takeoff and climbing.

[christingley]

Three years ago I had a test flight in the Alpha Electro in Perth, Western Australia. We flew around for almost an hour. Battery technology has improved since then. The future for short range flight is without a doubt, electric. It will be cheaper and safer.

[amosbatto]

This plane (the Elysian E9X) with an 800 km (497 mile) range has a pack energy density of 360 Wh/kg. The cell energy density is 450 Wh/kg, so I assume that they are planning on using something like Amprius batteries, which currently have 450 Wh/kg. With the recent announcement of CATL's "condensed battery" with 500 Wh/kg, they may have a better option in the near future. They say that a battery with a cell energy density of 550 Wh/kg will allow a 1000 km (621 mile) range. What is amazing to me is that its energy consumption of 167 Wh per passenger-kilometer (compared to 159 Wh/km for a Tesla Model 3), so basically it has the same energy consumption per km as an EV with one passenger.

The E9X needs a runway of 2000 m, so it cannot be used in many smaller airports that only have 1500 m runways, but its 42 meter wingspan can be folded at the tips for 36 meters so in can be use at gates which are designed for the A320. The E9X is designed to have a top cruise speed of 0.6 mach (460 mph, 741 km/h), which isn't bad for a turboprop. The paper estimates that this electric plane can eliminate 20% of all commercial aviation GHG emissions (assuming that using renewable energy to charge the batteries). Given that this plane consumes 1/5 of the energy of a conventional plane per passenger-km, I would love to see its emergency gas turbine range extender be used to power longer flights, because it should dramatically reduce the CO2 emissions compared to a conventional jet, and unlike a conventional jet, it won't produce condensation trails, which cause 59% of the radiative forcing from aviation (Lee et al 2021). I think the real market for this plane is as a hybrid electric/gas that can handle longer flights, and I would love to see a second model which is scaled up so it can handle double the number of passengers.

Another thing that I wonder is whether this plane could be made lighter than 76 tonnes (of which 35 tonnes are batteries) by using a stamped CF-SMC body like Aptera is doing with its EV, rather than a conventional aluminum alloy body.


To better understand the engineering, read Aviation Week (2024-01-10) "Dutch Startup Elysian Pursues Large Battery-Electric Airliner" and see Elysian's research paper, "A New Perspective on Battery-Electric Aviation, Part II: Conceptual Design of a 90-Seater" which can be downloaded for free at arc aiaa org (Google it). (I really hate YouTube's blocking of URLs.)

[alexishart]

It's not 380 watts per kg, it's watt hours per kg! This is a vitally important distinction!!

[TheAgentOfDeath]

I believe individuals have grown weary of investing in companies that primarily showcase a 3D-rendered image as their sole product. Many startups allocate a significant portion of their budget solely for the creation of 3D renderings to attract investor funds. Take Nikola trucks as an illustration. To secure investor confidence, it's crucial to present an actual product rather than relying solely on a 3D render.

[KenSwitzer-hp]

The Elon quote of "400Wh/kg" was for a VTOL plane. My guess is that a lower battery energy density level could be used in a plane that takes off on a runway.

[Gobhumi]

90 seat commuter planes like this is exactly what is needed. Range and speed will happen the same as its happening for EV's. This is an exciting development. Very good find Sam.

[chrisjeanneret]

Harbour Air in Vancouver is well along experimenting with electric aircraft, given their ideal situation of short local flights. Even so, they aren't rushing into commercial operation just yet.

[boombeesharkful]

Sam, you may need to check your efficiency numbers. Motor vehicle efficiency is ~25% for petrol, but higher for diesel ~40% ?. However, the high altitude turbo-fan (I believe that is correct definition) with a high by-pass ratio is hitting up to 60% efficiency (partly assisted by -58 Celsius at cruise altitude). Furthermore, you need to be careful comparing efficiency because even though actual battery to propellor efficiency is very high (~85%) the production of energy to charge the battery is not so high, i.e. 25% solar efficiency or ~74% efficiency for a steam turbine.

Despite efficiency numbers, the prospect of EV for air travel is very exciting stuff!

[realestatenow]

Ty only way I would
Get on one is if flying low over a body of water close to shoe so if the thing falls I have a chance of swimming out.

[supamario]

Would be cool (no pun) if it could be painted with Solar Paint - might be enough to power the aircon.

[alexishart]

You can only go so fast in a prop aircraft and the fact that a jet engine requires high temperature combustion by it's very nature means that it's unlikely that battery electric could ever do the job. We may have to settle for synthetic fuels for that one, contrails and all.

[janeleveld]

We already have planes in Europe that do 800 kms in 3 or 4 hours. They don't have wings nor batteries and we call them trains. The advantage is that you don't need transport between city and airport and no 2 hours checkin time.

[hanswallner]

With todays battery technology aircraft ranges in the 500 miles range are absolutely possible, the idea for providing the 45 minute emergency reserve with a gas turbine is excellent and absolutely make sense, VERY good concept! Fuel savings with electric planes are huge, especially as taxiing uses vast amounts of fuel, as a gas turbine needs at idle almost 50% of full power fuel flow.... alone this savings at taxiing, which is a huge part in short distance flights, absolutely justifies the development of electric planes, they would use a ridiculous minimal fraction of the energy for taxiing compared to a jet or turboprop.
Biggest showstoppe for electric planes... certification! It takes ages to get this done, see the canadian electric seaplane that is flying for years now, but still has only experimental certification and authorities take years and years to get stuff done.

[TerryHickey-xtmf]

the thing I like about this is fuel security, if the plane can be 'refueled' with renewable electricity generated locally, the reliance of refined imported fuel is less.

[JoePolaris]

Promising stuff! Sam covered other solutions like this, Airbus and Boeing, same for Sandy Munroe

[kingmiura]

YES, YOU WILL SEE....MIRACLE BATTERY JUST AROUND THE CORNER...GONNA ELECTRIFY THE WHOLE WORLD! IT IS JUST AHEAD...IN THE FUTURE....ELECTRIC WORLD!

[danparish]

It’ll be a nice little island hopper for short distances. 500 miles isn’t that far.

[bigrobsydney]

Curious why the batteries would be in the wing. Surely it would make more sense to have them low in the fuselage. This would then allow them to be swapped out ala NIO. Imagine a 4 minute battery swap. The savings on fuel plus recharge time would allow high efficiency on cost per passenger mile. I would love it if we could see new possibilities to drive down the prices, because right now, the cost of travel is just ridiculous.

[markotten]

Thank you for your relentless efforts and inspiration Sam <3