Aircraft of the future: The race for electric aviation | DW News

With electric cars a growing presence on the roads, how about aircraft becoming cleaner too? "Alice" has a range of over 400 miles with her two motors. Major logistics companies are already taking an active interest.

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[aliancemd]

I like that the design allows to swap batteries in a relatively easy way. There is lots to love about this airplane

[walterrwrush]

Every time battery tec gets an upgrade the plane will just get better

[markthomasson]

Glad to see it finally about to be operational.
Note, for the operator, much lower maintenance costs are as important as lower fuel cost.

[maladaptedmalarkey]

This is interesting from the perspective of many smaller, regional airports and their proximity to residential areas. Regulations in the US prevent them from being used more due to noise and air pollution. This could take the air brakes off an entire market segment.

I wish more folks would/could look past their cynicism and see that it solves problems other than promising to lower our collective carbon footprint — even though that is important, and if this helps with that, heck yea!

[pierrew]

Very cool, that particular plane shape doesn't look really like something optimal for cargo but it's a good start anyway, can't wait to see how DHL will operate them !

[forbaldo]

the average turnaround time for a domestic flight is usually around 45 minutes to 1 hour the ground Crew will say you want watt

[solidorsharp]

They can also due mid flight recharge with drone recharge interception like they refuel for jet fuel aircraft. I’m working on this technology with other companies and investors $

[WhyWorldWet]

Are they publicly listed on the stock exchange?

[alexander]

Have you notice that there are a lot of short haul flights between European States and also within Japan inter-cities airport as well (be it passenger or freight flights) ?

[ObiePaddles]

I love comments sections like this. What chance does DHL have with its expertise in moving parcels, internal teams testing the approach and research relative to people who’ve seen this video?

[GPeterson-jwsp]

The application of Alice in its current iteration is now for anyone that Travele any islands anywhere.

[danlavigueur]

There is a big issue with winter and summer at high altitude plus heating cabin and pressurization. and anti-icing etc That takes a lot of electrical juice.

[juliogomez]

How comes the engines have in inlet and exhaust?

[steve_]

I wonder what the tipping point for battery density needs to be for it to match the weight of the fuel put into something like a 747? 500Wh/kg? 750Wh, 1000Wh, 2000Wh? I mean the max fuel weight is 184, 000Kg (230k litres) so that's a lot of potential battery capacity. Just a curious thought if anyone had a rough idea?

[mortenprivatekallesoe]

Is the 460 km, like the cars can drive "460" (unless you go to the highway)

[asaiyannamedgokublack]

Hydrogen fuel cell: Am I A Joke To You

[Tini_Scrapitti]

Good going, but renewable electricity must be increased big time!

[christophermarshall]

I have an idea that could extend flight time.

[alexlight]

Love it, but I'd have gone for swap in/out batteries. Getting the required charging infrastructure in places like the Caribbean could be tricky, the power needed will be sizeable, especially with multiple aircraft.

[yaulkwong]

if electricity can do the job but battery is too heavy, is it possible to make a hybrid version that can put a small engine as generator, like hybrid car. the turbine should be run smartly to safe fuel/electricity to deal with high torque and low torque. and use ordinary fuel to generate electricity so a longer range is possible.