World’s Largest All-Electric Aircraft “eCaravan” will Reduce Carbon Emissions

The concept of an all-electric plane has always been considered farfetched. However, companies magniX and AeroTEC have finally brought that concept to life with the world’s largest all-electric aircraft, christened eCaravan that has successfully taken its maiden flight.

This revolutionary success will bring a major change in the aviation industry by significantly reducing carbon emissions. Although there is still a long way to go, the partnership of sustainability and aviation will be a tremendous establishment for the planet’s survival.

Image: magniX

Manufacturer of electric motors for electric aircrafts, magniX has released a wide range of all-electric engines designed for various aircraft sizes, since its inception in 2009. The eCaravan uses one of its products, the magni500.

Its 750-horsepower propulsion system, with a superior efficiency of 93 percent, played a crucial role in the success of the flight.

AeroTEC is the engineering and design company that has provided the testing center for the flight. The company contributed the work of its engineers and flight team to support it as well.

Roei Ganzarski, the CEO of magniX, said that present airplanes were both expensive to operate and very polluting. He further added.

Electric airplanes will be 40%-70% lower cost to operate per flight hour. That means operators will be able to fly more planes into smaller airports, meaning a shorter and door-to-door experience, with no harmful CO₂ emissions… Battery [energy] density is not where we would like to see it. While it is good for ultra-short flights of 100 miles on a retrofit aircraft and over 500 miles on a new design aircraft like the Alice, there is plenty of untapped potential in batteries. Now that the first commercial aircraft has flown all-electric, battery companies are starting to work more diligently on aerospace-ready battery solutions.

The plane can carry nine passengers; however, a test pilot undertook the test flight alone, at a speed of 183 km/h. magniX hopes that the aircraft could enter the commercial service by the end of 2021 with a range of 100 miles.

Zunum Aero, which is building a 27-seat plane with a 680-mile range, and the engine maker Rolls-Royce, whose ACCEL program projects to produce the fastest all-electric plane till now, are among the other companies developing electric aircraft.

Via: The Guardian