FireFox Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 Very interesting development. Opinions anyone? https://electrek.co/2021/07/14/united-air-invests-in-electric-plane-startup-heart-aerospace-buy-200-electric-aircraft/#disqus_thread "United Airlines announced today what could be an important step toward electric commercial flight. The major airline announced that it invested in Heart Aerospace, a Sweden-based electric aircraft startup, and agreed to buy up to 200 electric planes. Battery technology has improved enough that short-range commercial planes are starting to make sense. Several startups are working on viable electric aircraft, and some are starting to get the attention of major airlines. Heart Aerospace is one of those startups. The startup is developing the ES-19, a 19-seat electric aircraft meant for short flights. It believes that there’s an opportunity for electric aircraft to reopen short regional air routes with lower costs, thanks to fuel savings. At first, the startup plans for the ES-19 to only have up to 250 miles (400 km) of range but a commercially viable range for short-range flights with 19 passengers. Several major companies seem to agree with this strategy, as United Airlines Ventures (UAV), Breakthrough Energy Ventures, which is Bill Gates’s investment vehicle, and Mesa Airlines have announced an investment of an undisclosed amount in Heart Aerospace." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super 80 Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 Looks like an ATR-42 and a DHC-7 bore a midget. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vsplat Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 (edited) First lightning strike should be instructive.... Might also be interesting to see how protracted ground delays between the departure gate and takeoff are handled - like a trip through the CDF. I wonder if we will see a ground towing arrangement with auxiliary power. Vs Edited July 17, 2021 by Vsplat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seeker Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 1 hour ago, Vsplat said: First lightning strike should be instructive.... Like the ultimate Supercharger! Each lightning strike adds an hour to the endurance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boestar Posted July 20, 2021 Share Posted July 20, 2021 On 7/17/2021 at 10:28 AM, Vsplat said: First lightning strike should be instructive.... Might also be interesting to see how protracted ground delays between the departure gate and takeoff are handled - like a trip through the CDF. I wonder if we will see a ground towing arrangement with auxiliary power. Vs Its not like shutting down an engine will take any time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kasey Posted July 20, 2021 Share Posted July 20, 2021 Switch ON, switch NOT ON Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vsplat Posted July 20, 2021 Share Posted July 20, 2021 3 hours ago, boestar said: Its not like shutting down an engine will take any time. Certainly different. I don't know how electric motors like severe cold. Is there a warm up period to prevent all those amps from cracking some ceramic something or other? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boestar Posted July 21, 2021 Share Posted July 21, 2021 the motors have no issue. its the batteries that have cold issues Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest1 Posted July 21, 2021 Share Posted July 21, 2021 Some information re cold weather operation: DEMAGNETIZATION Permanent Magnet DC brush type motors use electrical current moving through magnets to run the motor, but really cold temperatures can decrease the magnetization level of the magnets. This effect on motor performance needs to be reviewed, especially in low voltage, high amperage applications. For equipment that regularly runs in cold weather, alterations can be made to the motor design to improve performance when temperatures dip well below freezing. The lithium-ion batteries that power the Electric Vehicles are temperature sensitive, just like humans. They deliver their peak performance when the temperature is around 60 to 80 degrees and it tends to decrease when the temperatures are below 40 or above 115 degrees Fahrenheit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mo32a Posted July 21, 2021 Share Posted July 21, 2021 I guess we are lucky it never goes below 40 degrees at altitude. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boestar Posted July 22, 2021 Share Posted July 22, 2021 I would imagine that the aircraft would use AC Motors like electric cars do though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest1 Posted July 22, 2021 Share Posted July 22, 2021 3 hours ago, boestar said: I would imagine that the aircraft would use AC Motors like electric cars do though. The problem with that, is there would need to be ac generators onboard and I guess they would be run from DC storage batteries or ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conehead Posted July 22, 2021 Share Posted July 22, 2021 44 minutes ago, Kargokings said: The problem with that, is there would need to be ac generators onboard and I guess they would be run from DC storage batteries or ? Would need to be inverters to power the AC motors, there’s no such thing as an AC battery. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boestar Posted July 26, 2021 Share Posted July 26, 2021 On 7/22/2021 at 5:17 PM, conehead said: Would need to be inverters to power the AC motors, there’s no such thing as an AC battery. Yes Electric card have inverters to convert to AC for the AC induction motors. everything else in the car runs on DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch Cronin Posted July 31, 2021 Share Posted July 31, 2021 On 7/21/2021 at 9:04 AM, boestar said: the motors have no issue. its the batteries that have cold issues By the time the aircraft is at any sort of too-cold altitude, the batteries won't be cold. I think electric aircraft are the next all-metal-cantilevered-wing like thing. If I was 18... and in any sort of position to be betting on this kind of venture, I'd be soaking a huge bunch of my investment coin in this kind of stuff. There are oodles of folks chipping away with different designs for this kind of new tech. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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