Air Canada orders electric regional ES-30s; invests in manufacturer

[dagger]

For short range routes, up to 400 km but more likely shorter

https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/air-canada-to-acquire-30-es-30-electric-regional-aircraft-from-heart-aerospace-873505575.html

 

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Electric-hybrid aircraft advances carrier's 2050 net-zero emission goal

• Battery powered aircraft will have capacity for up to 30 passengers
• Electric 200 km range extends to 400 km with reserve hybrid architecture 
• Agreement includes equity investment by Air Canada in Heart Aerospace

Editor's note: A video demonstration of this aircraft is available here. 

MONTREAL, Sept. 15, 2022 /CNW Telbec/ - Air Canada today announced a purchase agreement for 30 ES-30 electric-hybrid aircraft under development by Heart Aerospace of Sweden. The revolutionary regional aircraft, expected to enter service in 2028, will generate zero emissions flying on battery power and yield significant operational savings and benefits. Under the agreement, Air Canada has also acquired a US$5 million equity stake in Heart Aerospace.

 

Air Canada today announced a purchase agreement for 30 ES-30 electric-hybrid aircraft under development by Heart Aerospace of Sweden. (CNW Group/Air Canada)

 

"Air Canada has taken a leadership position in the industry to address climate change. The introduction into our fleet of the ES-30 electric regional aircraft from Heart Aerospace will be a step forward to our goal of net zero emissions by 2050," said Michael Rousseau, President and Chief Executive Officer of Air Canada. "Already, Air Canada is supporting the development of new technologies, such as sustainable aviation fuels and carbon capture, to address climate change. We are now reinforcing our commitment by investing in revolutionary electric aircraft technology, both as a customer for the ES-30 and as an equity partner in Heart Aerospace."

 

The ES-30 will allow Air Canada to serve regional and commuter routes more sustainably, providing low-emission connectivity to local communities over the medium-to-long term. It will be capable of carrying 30 passengers seated three across (in a 2X1 configuration), with a galley and lavatory. Air Canada has placed a purchase order for 30 ES-30.

"Air Canada is a strategically important partner for Heart Aerospace. The company has one of the world's largest networks operated by regional turboprops, and it is also a progressive, future leaning company especially in the green transmission," said Anders Forslund, founder and CEO of Heart Aerospace. "With the ES-30 we can start cutting emissions from air travel well before the end of this decade."

The aircraft will be powered by lithium-ion batteries, and will be quieter, have better operational parameters, be more reliable, and have a smaller environmental footprint than conventional turbo-prop aircraft. It will also be equipped with reserve-hybrid generators that can use sustainable aviation fuel. Fully loaded, the ES-30 is projected to have an all-electric, zero-emission range of 200 km. This can be extended to 400 km with power supplemented by the generators, and up to 800 km if the load is restricted to 25 passengers. Charging time for the aircraft is expected to be 30-to-50 minutes.

 

 

Edited September 15, 2022 by dagger

[Vsplat]

I can see this on the YUL-YOW and YVR-YYJ routes.  Might make quite a difference on emissions on low altitude short legs where turbine equipment really burns a lot of gas.

Vs

[Specs]

"...Fully loaded, the ES-30 is projected to have an all-electric, zero-emission range of 200 km. This can be extended to 400 km with power supplemented by the generators, and up to 800 km if the load is restricted to 25 passengers. Charging time for the aircraft is expected to be 30-to-50 minutes. ....."

 

That certainly seems viable for some shorter routes but I'd probably drive just to save on time and have a car at the destination. 

Edited September 15, 2022 by Specs

[Vsplat]

if the two destinations have good roads, the car is handy, but for those who don't use a car, this opens transit to downtown airport options where they can link to a bigger hub.  I'm not sure how much quieter a 4 prop aircraft gets on electric power, but the air quality concerns of those near airports would certainly be eased.

Now there are a few issues to be addressed in heavy winter weather.  I assume the aircraft will need to be towed by a power supplying tug when de-icing or protracted ground holds are expected, or perhaps that's where the generators (I presume fuel burning APU) come in.

Then there is the issue of alternates, which might take some of the coastal airports off the game board for a bit.  On more than one occasion I've shot a CAT II on a flight that was planned with contact fuel, stuff happens....

Vs

[Guest2]

It will be interesting to see how the aircraft stands up to the normal "cold soak" test and if the test needs modifications to include the new power source. 

[Falken]

If a Tesla battery costs $26,000,how much will these batteries cost to replace?

[conehead]

1 hour ago, Falken said:

If a Tesla battery costs $26,000,how much will these batteries cost to replace?

Less than the PW150 on the Dash8 ($1,300,000)?

[Guest2]

28 minutes ago, conehead said:

Less than the PW150 on the Dash8 ($1,300,000)?

Of course you have to factor that against what fuel would have cost plus charging cost, installation of the new battery etc.

[Vsplat]

I wonder if it might come to pass where the battery becomes a rapidly rotable item, land at the airport, swap in a fresh battery module, charge the used one offline.  Would take some fancy engineering to make sure the contactors didn't break down or a ground handler didn't get toasted.

If they can get a full charge in 30 minutes that's probably not necessary, but perhaps a higher capacity/longer range variant would benefit from a longer charging time.

[Guest2]

1 hour ago, Vsplat said:

I wonder if it might come to pass where the battery becomes a rapidly rotable item, land at the airport, swap in a fresh battery module, charge the used one offline.  Would take some fancy engineering to make sure the contactors didn't break down or a ground handler didn't get toasted.

If they can get a full charge in 30 minutes that's probably not necessary, but perhaps a higher capacity/longer range variant would benefit from a longer charging time.

Rain, snow could pose a problem....  But who knows..... I wonder what charge would be needed on the battery to allow for alternatives? I guess that would be dependant upon the temperature (battery performance). 

[JL]

With regards to noise, don't forget that electric motor have significant torque. A much corser pitch and lower rpm is possible and thus lower acoustic energy.

[boestar]

Yeah... Last year when I was picking my daughter up from Ottawa to come home for the summer, the car got a little full so my wife flew back.

My other daughter (who lives in Ottawa). drove her to the airport and myself and my other daughter headed home.

We arrived home (Toronto) 5 minutes after my wife.  Is it really worth flying short routes?

 

[Kip Powick]

 

2 hours ago, boestar said:

We arrived home (Toronto) 5 minutes after my wife.  Is it really worth flying short routes?

Yes, many don't like driving with so many Looney Tunes that are on the "super" hiways now and an airline seat takes the stress out of the equation..

I have a friend that will not drive on the 401 and when he goes to Toronto he takes HiWay2 and as many back roads, as he can find, even if going to YYZ.

I have driven, during my "airline career"  close to 900  times back and forth to YYZ  without incident but one has to really watch out for the crazies 

[wizard]

This could be a nice addition to the London Ontario to Toronto and Windsor to Toronto routes.

[GDR]

or a shuttle between YVR and YYJ

[Kip Powick]

3 hours ago, GDR said:

or a shuttle between YVR and YYJ

Electric airplanes cannot fly in wet weather....

[mo32a]

^Why?

[Kip Powick]

2 hours ago, mo32a said:

^Why?

The west coast weather is the overriding factor...The electric motors are enclosed in cases which require AIR cooling and if water gets in the cases the inductive, glygrysole tends to rapidly decay and cause the dysantfrilbater to fail and in turn damage all the upfliycles which then  retract on the wings  and thus cause the aircraft to descend with no control available to the pilots. 

[Guest2]

1 hour ago, Kip Powick said:

The west coast weather is the overriding factor...The electric motors are enclosed in cases which require AIR cooling and if water gets in the cases the inductive, glygrysole tends to rapidly decay and cause the dysantfrilbater to fail and in turn damage all the upfliycles which then  retract on the wings  and thus cause the aircraft to descend with no control available to the pilots. 

Or simply salt water spray and storm winds are not friendly and even BC ferries have to stop sailing when the winds are too   gusty.

[st27]

I wonder what systems protections would be in place for a possible lightning strike?  I don’t think I would like to find out, or be reassured by someone saying “nah, never happen”

[GDR]

5 hours ago, Kip Powick said:

Electric airplanes cannot fly in wet weather....

Firstly we have just been experiencing the longest drought in any major Canadian city in recorded history.

Secondly Harbour Air out here, ( a great little airline on floats) is going to go all electric.

So there. You may find that SHOCKING. 

[Kip Powick]

Should  have added this to my initial post about electric aircraft..

 

For those that are thinking  of...or already have, an  Electric Vehicle  (EVs) consider this...that they  are also suseptible to engine failure ( except no upfliycles on cars...they are already on the ground), and it is considered very prudent NOT to use drive-through car washes as the water pressure is too intense, as is torrential rainfall, and could cause engine failure ... It is reccommended to hand wash a pure EV, (not required for  hybrids).

Another problem for EVs , (for example the TESLA), is that a battery change can cost between $13,000.00 and $20,000.00 depending on model . No data available for a water damaged engine. 

[Airband]

Dear CEO Elon Musk:

As you are aware, nearly three weeks ago Hurricane Ian impacted Florida’s Southwest coast, inundating the area with salty storm surge waters. The Category 4 hurricane was so massive, storm surge reached 16 feet in certain areas and went as far inland as downtown Fort Myers. From my experience in traveling the state, there were a tremendous amount of Electronic Vehicles (EVs) in this part of Florida, and we now know for a fact that any EV that was submerged in saltwater is a fire risk.

As the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) confirmed last week, “Test results specific to saltwater submersion show that salt bridges can form within the battery pack and provide a path for short circuit and self-heating. This can lead to fire ignition.” The federal agency also confirmed that, “Lithium-ion vehicle battery fires have been observed both rapidly igniting and igniting several weeks after battery damage occurred.” Further, I saw with my own eyes as North Collier Fire Rescue fought an EV fire that continuously reignited. It was surreal, and frankly scary, watching fire teams fight this EV fire, using tens-of-thousands of gallons of water to cool the batteries, and then again watching the EV reignite. I even found out later that the car reignited on the tow truck. Florida firefighters have been the tip of the spear in hurricane recovery operations, and more has to be done to help these heroes deal with the unique challenges of EV fires. The fumes from the fires are dangerous, fires reignite, and fire teams don’t have a lot of tools at their disposal in dealing with these lithium-ion vehicle battery fires.

The unfortunate reality is that there is a population of vehicles that could spontaneously combust, putting our first responders at risk, and the manufacturers are nowhere to be found. For as big a risk as this is to fire teams, for companies who have received an immense sum of subsidies from taxpayers, I would have hoped the reaction by manufacturers would have been more robust – especially as these EVs supposedly have a tremendous amount of technology and connectivity. There could be a family who evacuated, whose home was left relatively intact from Ian, who may still lose everything because of an abandoned EV, left in their garage, that catches fire as a result of salty storm surge waters. That’s a risk that requires more of a response from manufacturers than just telling customers to consult the owner’s manual.

Florida State Fire Marshall - cont.

[Kip Powick]

Just a bit of humour ..PLEASE DO NOT TURN THIS POST/THREAD  INTO A  POLITICAL  TIRADE

 

 

 

[boestar]

On 10/19/2022 at 1:53 PM, Airband said:

Dear CEO Elon Musk:

As you are aware, nearly three weeks ago Hurricane Ian impacted Florida’s Southwest coast, inundating the area with salty storm surge waters. The Category 4 hurricane was so massive, storm surge reached 16 feet in certain areas and went as far inland as downtown Fort Myers. From my experience in traveling the state, there were a tremendous amount of Electronic Vehicles (EVs) in this part of Florida, and we now know for a fact that any EV that was submerged in saltwater is a fire risk.

As the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) confirmed last week, “Test results specific to saltwater submersion show that salt bridges can form within the battery pack and provide a path for short circuit and self-heating. This can lead to fire ignition.” The federal agency also confirmed that, “Lithium-ion vehicle battery fires have been observed both rapidly igniting and igniting several weeks after battery damage occurred.” Further, I saw with my own eyes as North Collier Fire Rescue fought an EV fire that continuously reignited. It was surreal, and frankly scary, watching fire teams fight this EV fire, using tens-of-thousands of gallons of water to cool the batteries, and then again watching the EV reignite. I even found out later that the car reignited on the tow truck. Florida firefighters have been the tip of the spear in hurricane recovery operations, and more has to be done to help these heroes deal with the unique challenges of EV fires. The fumes from the fires are dangerous, fires reignite, and fire teams don’t have a lot of tools at their disposal in dealing with these lithium-ion vehicle battery fires.

The unfortunate reality is that there is a population of vehicles that could spontaneously combust, putting our first responders at risk, and the manufacturers are nowhere to be found. For as big a risk as this is to fire teams, for companies who have received an immense sum of subsidies from taxpayers, I would have hoped the reaction by manufacturers would have been more robust – especially as these EVs supposedly have a tremendous amount of technology and connectivity. There could be a family who evacuated, whose home was left relatively intact from Ian, who may still lose everything because of an abandoned EV, left in their garage, that catches fire as a result of salty storm surge waters. That’s a risk that requires more of a response from manufacturers than just telling customers to consult the owner’s manual.

Florida State Fire Marshall - cont.

the battery pack on a tesla is a sealed unit which has a coolant running through it.  Water penetration due to submersion is not possible