Is Tesla dominating electric transportation? Well, if at all, then maybe in cars.
And as they're obviously focused on having less of them exploding and burning down, others have already taken the learning from the automotive and marine businesses and applied hybrid and electric propulsion to yet another market: aircrafts!
So someone else is innovating in the meantime. And it's not a funky start-up!
Whilst Tesla's founder Elon Musk still ponders about his latest vision of designing an electric supersonic airplane, with the ability to take off and land vertically, members of the Tesla Motors Club are already broadly involved in discussing the most recent and successful maiden flight of Airbus Group's new green plane.
As a matter of fact, some days ago Airbus unveiled its all-electric E-Fan 2.0 protoype electric aircraft, which has two motors with ducted fans powered by a lithium-ion polymer battery. The two-seater, which has been tested since the beginning of March near Bordeaux, is built of carbon fiber and can fly for about half an hour at 110 miles (177 kilometers). It has a wingspan of 312 feet (9.5 meters) and weighs 1,212 pounds (550 kilograms).
It could be the aircraft maker's next step in trying to enter (via hybrid electric powered engines) the market for regional jets (70-90 seats). According to Airbus, this might take anything between 15 to 20 years. Such a hybrid regional airliner could slash fuel consumption by 70-80% based on current technology and it could significantly cut noise levels. Consequently Airbus and its partners are aiming to perform research and development to construct a series version of the E-Fan and propose an industrial plan for a production facility close to Bordeaux Airport.
Certainly there is a place for electric and hybrid concepts in civil aerospace. However, the challenge will be to manage the high electrical loads on-board and to have enough power storage to fuel large jets. In addition batteries need to be stable and highly resistant in any context and given situation, something Boeing struggled a lot with on its 787 Dreamliner. Lately, it's also been rather quiet about Boeing's once very popular SUGAR Volt concept: A hybrid aircraft which would use two hybrid turbofans that burn conventional jet fuel when taking off, then use electric motors to power the engines while flying.
Indeed, currently it appears that the rather clumsy and bureaucratic Airbus group is at the technological forefront of electric airplanes—not Boeing or Tesla.
By the way, if you were to consider getting your own E-Fan 2.0, you might be interested to know that it'll be priced in-line with similar-sized planes at around $300,000.
What do you think about it? Will electric planes shape the future of transportation? Will Airbus lead the market? What about Boeing, Tesla, and other players?
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