The aviation industry is slowly warming up to batteries and has been testing some interesting two- to four-seat airplanes these past few years.
As battery energy density shrinks in favor of aircrafts, plane makers and kit conversions are starting to make headways. CleanTechnica has looked at the sensational aEro, the Sun Flyer 2 and now 4, as well as a slew of vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) crafts and shorter commuters like Zunum set to challenge the traditional helicopters and the business jet world.
Some Plane & Pilot Magazine poll numbers on this topic are in. Asking its readers to weigh in on whether electric airplanes are a fad or here to say, we were surprised to find that most readers are looking favorably to electric airplanes.
The question was: “What do you think is the future of electric power in light GA?”
Answer option #1: “It’s our future. Within the next decade or so, most new light planes will be electrically powered.”
30% of the readers felt electric airplanes would reach into the skies within this decade.
Answer option #2: “Electric power will play a role in light GA, but not to as big an extent as some might think.”
36% of readers think they will play a role, but not as far as some might think.
This answer is really interesting because we are in the early infancy of electric airplanes and the industry has only started working on electric drivetrain the last few years. So overall, it bodes very well.
Answer option #3: “Planes with electric power will be a small but present part of the fleet before too long.”
23% was perhaps the most interesting number as almost a quarter of the magazine’s readers believe they are here to stay but so far the performance limits them to local one-hour flights, training schools, and hobbyists.
Answer option #4: “Electric planes will remain a curiosity.”
Finally, only 11% believe that electric planes are nothing big and will just hold onto their current place as a cursiosity.
There you go. Now is your time to weigh in. Are electric airplanes here to stay or just a mild curiosity? And do we only consider local airplanes, such as the Cessna 150 and 170 generation?
- Uber’s Chief Product Officer Jeff Holden announced this week that Los Angeles has been selected as the second U.S. city for its uberAIR service, a ride-sharing option that would enable four-person flights across town in electric vehicle take-off and landing vehicles (eVTOLs). Dallas was announced as the first U.S. test city for this innovation in April.
- Uber also announced this week that it signed a Space Act Agreement with NASA to develop new Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) concepts and Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) “that will enable safe and efficient operations of small UAS at low altitudes,” according to a press statement.
- Uber estimates that 200 mph rides across the skies of Los Angeles will be “price competitive” with typical uberX rides of the same distance. The company hopes to launch demonstrator flights in L.A. by 2020, and anticipates that uberAIR will be in full operation by the 2028 Olympic Games.
From a broad perspective, Uber’s selection of Dallas and Los Angeles for uberAIR “pilot hubs” are well thought out. Dallas is an aviation-friendly city, while Los Angeles is a center for both innovation and marketing. If uberAIR can become popularized in L.A., it’s likely to be in high demand from envious cities nationwide.
The real question is who will be testing the uberAIR services. While Uber touts that an uberAIR ride could reduce travel time from LAX to the Staples Center by nearly an hour, that’s just one route — and requires taking an uberX to and from the Skyports where the taxi will take off and land. Other routes across town have not yet been laid out despite Uber estimating that “uberAIR will perform tens of thousands of flights each day across the city.” In order for Uber to maintain an element of convenience — something that is so important with its uberX rides — uberAIR will need to be accessible from all points of the city, with a wealth of destination options.
The capability to access uberAIR from multiple locations, however, also raises the question of infrastructure. Uber says it signed an agreement with Sandstone Properties, which has “over 20 strategically-positioned locations … [as] exclusive options for the Uber Elevate Network” for the construction of Skyports. However it is unclear how much money or other resources will go into developing this network in L.A., as well as in Dallas and its international partner city of Dubai. If Uber can successfully develop numerous in-air routes per city, and offer services for a reasonable price, it is likely that uberAIR will be adopted as a mainstream transit option.
