Electric motor?

[efwd]

Don't forget the reserve.

[Shawshaw]

Don't forget the reserve.

What about the idea of a hybrid? Light weight ~80hp gasoline engine generator, small battery bank as a buffer, used Tesla motor to drive the prop?

[mspohr]

Using the specs from the Pipistrel which has a 65 hp motor and 25 kWh of batteries, you could probably get by with a much smaller generator. If you consider that most of the battery drain and power would be used in gaining altitude, you could probably get by with a 20 hp or so generator (10 to 15 kW). The battery would provide most of the power when climbing and the generator could top off the battery when cruising. Also have the potential to regen the battery when descending.
Also, could probably get by with a 65 hp or so electric motor. Much smaller than a Tesla motor.

[Shawshaw]

Using the specs from the Pipistrel which has a 65 hp motor and 25 kWh of batteries, you could probably get by with a much smaller generator. If you consider that most of the battery drain and power would be used in gaining altitude, you could probably get by with a 20 hp or so generator (10 to 15 kW). The battery would provide most of the power when climbing and the generator could top off the battery when cruising. Also have the potential to regen the battery when descending.
Also, could probably get by with a 65 hp or so electric motor. Much smaller than a Tesla motor.

Thanks for the info! You make sense. This is just a fun day dream for me. I’m planning on a Rotax.

[jiott]

Standard electric motors are used all the time to drive large, high hp cooling fans in industrial applications.

[alexM]

I'm happy to see electric planes moving forward and it seems we are finally where a small enough plane can get 45-60 minutes. I'm not ready to jump in because I make a lot of flights more than double that duration and there is zero infrastructure in place to charge.

I'll preface my statements by saying I grew up around r/c planes when electric was a joke. I was an early adopter when they finally became somewhat practical and carried forth to the point where my default position would be electric all the way. The weight is no longer a penalty, performance is fantastic, the flight durations are crazy (I have small planes that will fly over 30 minutes which is unheard of with glow-fuel power), and there's no need to wipe castor oil off the plane when I'm done for the day. Sort of a bummer for a guy with a YS53, which is a 4 stroke, supercharged and fuel injected engine. And electric planes are certainly less irritating to neighbors.

As it applies to full scale planes?
I think 65hp would be a dog in terms of performance. Double that and get back to me. I agree with another poster that "as a second plane" I might consider one. As a flight school? I don't see it yet. Any flight school around here is literally hot swapping humans from one lesson to the next every hour. If (big if) you could actually charge a plane in 58 minutes then you would need two planes in order to keep up with a 45 year old Cessna.

You cannot charge a plane in one hour using 110V, which is all I have in my hangar. Simple physics. I sat through a presentation on the new electric Porsche and it's possible to charge the car overnight (not one hour mind you) using 240V, but if all you have is 110V it will take 4+ days. Again, a second plane tucked in the corner of my hangar and charging with 110V might be a fun toy. The one hour charge on the Porsche requires 600V (might be 800V, it's been a while since I sat through this and I couldn't afford one anyway).

As an FBO you would need quite the charging set up, and some extra planes. I think for a flight school you would be looking for a way to hot swap battery packs. With my r/c planes I run three battery packs for a given aircraft. One in the plane, one charging and one cooling off after charging. Hot swapping is easy enough with an r/c plane but with larger voltage/current system it has challenges. Witness electric auto racing where they swap the entire car at a pit stop instead of the battery.

Also, how about the cross country requirements for flight training? Your 250NM commercial XC would become an overnight trip.

On the other hand, performance with electric is already there. My r/c planes have spectacular performance. That electric Porsche is a freak that you can launch all day long and it doesn't care. Telsas with "ludicrous power" will pin you in your seat and make you a believer. Head to your local go-kart track where they have electric power and you'll be amazed at the punch those things have. This is why I say for a two seat plane: ditch the 65hp and give me something that puts a smile on my face.

If I wanted to get into Valdez style extreme STOL competition I would look up the company that makes the plane previously known as the Kitfox Lite, order one in Titanium (which they offer), leave off the covering other than wings and tail, slap that 65hp motor with just enough batteries for 10 minutes of run time and go after it.