[sokoloff]

Electricity is not especially cheap compared to jet fuel.

Jet Fuel has about 128kBTU/gal and is available around $2/gal, so 64kBTU/$.

Electricity is about 3400BTU/kWhr and a kWhr is about $0.05, or about 68kBTU/$.

[coryrc]

Except, electricity will be about 85-90% efficient and a turbofan is about 30% efficient [1], roughly tripling the cost advantage.

Fuel costs are about 35%[1] of operating costs, so only a ~20% cost reduction is possible for fuel change, so your point is still mostly valid.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet_engine#Energy_efficiency

[2] http://www.ajc.com/news/business/airlines-keep-adapting-to-h...

[masklinn]

> Except, electricity will be about 85-90% efficient and a turbofan is about 30% efficient [1], roughly tripling the cost advantage.

But then batteries store 1% the energy per mass fuel does so even assuming triple the efficiency, the energy storage is 30 times easier (assuming everything else stays constant which it can't because now your craft is an order of magnitude heavier and your short-haul plane is as heavy as a 747)

[srb-]

Ah, thanks for putting some numbers out there everyone. Very interesting. That's why I love HN.

Musk has said several times that if he wasn't working on space and EVs, he'd be working on hyperloop or electric planes. Wonder what potential he sees in the latter.

[csours]

Except, you will be carrying more weight, due to the weight of the battery.