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by arbuge 1685 days ago
Electric on short haul flights really doesn't make sense to me either in most real-world scenarios given the energy densities possible from current batteries. Although you may be able to pull off the flights themselves without any issues, you will be unable to use the plane continuously because of the time you will need between flights to recharge. Of course, in scenarios where the plane is in use for only a small fraction of the time, this isn't a problem, but that does not apply to most commercial situations

The most realistic way to attain "green" flights seems to me to be some variant of a high energy density fuel such as hydogen produced from green electricity... so-called "green hydrogen". This also solves the range limitations of batteries, besides charging time. There are however significant problems with using hydrogen too, as other comments in this thread point out.
3 comments
noahtallen 1684 days ago
> you will be unable to use the plane continuously because of the time you will need between flights to recharge

Couldn’t a battery be swapped so that the plane wouldn’t have to wait? (I’m sure it’s tricky, but that seems like the clear solution to charging taking along time.)

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loonster 1684 days ago
The batteries would then need to be more easily accessible and a more standard shape. You probably couldn't have batteries in the wings.

I would imagine commercial planes would take a hybrid approach. They would have their own primary batteries hidden throughout the plane, and then they would have range extender swappable batteries in the cargo area.

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adgjlsfhk1 1685 days ago
Airplane engines are really expensive. If the electric plane is significantly cheaper, it could be beneficial to eat the lower utilization. Also bigger batteries don't necessarily charge slower. If you have more cells, you can force more power into the batteries. The charging cable will be massive, but that might be acceptable.
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tylermauthe 1684 days ago
well... when they start doing all their flights on electric engines in 2022 I guess we'll see if it makes sense... did you read my link?
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