New Battery Tech Could Power a Flight from San Francisco to Los Angeles

[rangerrebew]

New Battery Tech Could Power a Flight from San Francisco to Los Angeles

Electric passenger planes could finally be practical.
Dan RobitzskiOctober 30th 2018
 

There’s a new kind of battery coming out of an MIT materials science lab — one that packs enough of a punch to power an airplane long enough to fly up the Californian coastline, according to the MIT Technology Review.

Engineers have long dreamed of flying electric vehicles, but they’ve often been stymied by the seemingly impossible-to-strike balance between battery weight and power.

https://futurism.com/new-battery-plane-flight

[Dexter]

If there's a limit to human ingenuity I haven't witnessed it yet.

[Joe Wooten]

The article has no details on the operation of the battery like energy density, operational lifetime, how many deep discharge cycles it can take before becoming a brick, operation costs, manufacturing costs, etc. I have been hearing about miracle batteries since 1978 and nothing has happened to get any closer to competing with gasoline/diesel/kerosene fuels without a massive subsidy.

[DB]

The article has no details on the operation of the battery like energy density, operational lifetime, how many deep discharge cycles it can take before becoming a brick, operation costs, manufacturing costs, etc. I have been hearing about miracle batteries since 1978 and nothing has happened to get any closer to competing with gasoline/diesel/kerosene fuels without a massive subsidy.

Isn't that kind of like LED light bulbs? We heard about them for a long time and what few there were worked like crap, few lumens, were expensive and had very bad color rendering.

And then suddenly that changed. Drastically actually...

Battery tech has changed pretty radically over the last 15 years or so. Due to handheld/portable devices the technology has had a lot money poured into it.

Now, where that electricity is going to come from to charge these things is another issue... One much more inline with your comment...

[Elderberry]

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/612351/top-battery-scientists-have-a-plan-to-electrify-flight-and-slash-airline-emissions/

Just the start

Until the batteries are actually created and evaluated, it remains to be seen how well this approach will really work. And even in the best-case scenario, the field is still probably decades away from electrifying more than a fraction of total air miles.

Richard Anderson, an aerospace engineer and director of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Eagle Flight Research Center, points out that batteries are at least 20 times heavier than fuel for a given amount of energy output. He is skeptical that companies pursuing hybrid commuter flights, like Zunum, can find enough ways to offset that added weight in the next few years. He also thinks the field is overestimating how quickly hybrid planes will be able to reach longer distances—while underestimating the regulatory challenges they’ll face.

[DB]

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/612351/top-battery-scientists-have-a-plan-to-electrify-flight-and-slash-airline-emissions/

Just the start

Until the batteries are actually created and evaluated, it remains to be seen how well this approach will really work. And even in the best-case scenario, the field is still probably decades away from electrifying more than a fraction of total air miles.

Richard Anderson, an aerospace engineer and director of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Eagle Flight Research Center, points out that batteries are at least 20 times heavier than fuel for a given amount of energy output. He is skeptical that companies pursuing hybrid commuter flights, like Zunum, can find enough ways to offset that added weight in the next few years. He also thinks the field is overestimating how quickly hybrid planes will be able to reach longer distances—while underestimating the regulatory challenges they’ll face.

Time frames are hard to speculate on when technology that can change on a dime through a new discovery. I would think an electric replacement of an actual jet engine would be even heavier. So its going to take more than battery tech to replace commercial jets for travel in the foreseeable future.

[Frank Cannon]

New Battery Tech Could Power a Flight from San Francisco to Los Angeles

And I hope these flying death traps are tested in this corridor. Too many morons out there as it is.

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/612351/top-battery-scientists-have-a-plan-to-electrify-flight-and-slash-airline-emissions/

Just the start

Until the batteries are actually created and evaluated, it remains to be seen how well this approach will really work. And even in the best-case scenario, the field is still probably decades away from electrifying more than a fraction of total air miles.

Richard Anderson, an aerospace engineer and director of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Eagle Flight Research Center, points out that batteries are at least 20 times heavier than fuel for a given amount of energy output. He is skeptical that companies pursuing hybrid commuter flights, like Zunum, can find enough ways to offset that added weight in the next few years. He also thinks the field is overestimating how quickly hybrid planes will be able to reach longer distances—while underestimating the regulatory challenges they’ll face.

Look, if MacGyver can't get it done...