Rolls-Royce Says Its Electric Plane Just Smashed the World Record for Speed

The first electric plane took flight in 1973. There was just one person on board and the plane only stayed in the air for 14 minutes, but it was the beginning of an ongoing effort to power aircraft with batteries instead of fuel. Multiple companies are working on building faster, lighter, more efficient electric planes, as well as batteries to power those planes—and last week an aircraft made by Rolls-Royce hit some new milestones in the industry.

more…

Tau.Neutrino said:

Rolls-Royce Says Its Electric Plane Just Smashed the World Record for Speed

The first electric plane took flight in 1973. There was just one person on board and the plane only stayed in the air for 14 minutes, but it was the beginning of an ongoing effort to power aircraft with batteries instead of fuel. Multiple companies are working on building faster, lighter, more efficient electric planes, as well as batteries to power those planes—and last week an aircraft made by Rolls-Royce hit some new milestones in the industry.

more…

And as viable competition to a fossil fuelled engine…nup, I’ve got more chance of going out with Margot Robbie.

Tau.Neutrino said:

Rolls-Royce Says Its Electric Plane Just Smashed the World Record for Speed

The first electric plane took flight in 1973. There was just one person on board and the plane only stayed in the air for 14 minutes, but it was the beginning of an ongoing effort to power aircraft with batteries instead of fuel. Multiple companies are working on building faster, lighter, more efficient electric planes, as well as batteries to power those planes—and last week an aircraft made by Rolls-Royce hit some new milestones in the industry.

more…

Imagine airports not smelling of avgas.

sarahs mum said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

Rolls-Royce Says Its Electric Plane Just Smashed the World Record for Speed

The first electric plane took flight in 1973. There was just one person on board and the plane only stayed in the air for 14 minutes, but it was the beginning of an ongoing effort to power aircraft with batteries instead of fuel. Multiple companies are working on building faster, lighter, more efficient electric planes, as well as batteries to power those planes—and last week an aircraft made by Rolls-Royce hit some new milestones in the industry.

more…

Imagine airports not smelling of avgas.

One day I guess.

Smaller planes flying over towns should become quieter.

sarahs mum said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

Rolls-Royce Says Its Electric Plane Just Smashed the World Record for Speed

The first electric plane took flight in 1973. There was just one person on board and the plane only stayed in the air for 14 minutes, but it was the beginning of an ongoing effort to power aircraft with batteries instead of fuel. Multiple companies are working on building faster, lighter, more efficient electric planes, as well as batteries to power those planes—and last week an aircraft made by Rolls-Royce hit some new milestones in the industry.

more…

Imagine airports not smelling of avgas.

That’s a point!
Petrol stations no longer stink of benzene, so the technology does exist.

Nice article. Well balanced.

“the aircraft reached a top speed of 556 km/h over 3 kilometers. That’s 213 k/h faster than the existing record. It got up to an altitude of 3,000 meters in 202 seconds—60 seconds faster than the existing record. And finally, the plane reached a maximum speed of 623 km/h during its flight tests, which Rolls-Royce says makes it the world’s fastest all-electric vehicle.”

Good progress.

“Jet fuel is far more energy-dense than even the most advanced batteries. … Currently, fuel accounts for about 45 percent of the total weight of a typical long-haul jet … Cars need batteries to be affordable and compact, but with airplanes we don’t care about cost as much, or even volume. It’s weight that’s critical. … batteries need to hit 1,000 watt hours per kilogram for short-haul electric flight to be feasible. Today’s lithium-ion batteries go up to around 265 Wh/kg”.

I wonder what Uranium-235 is in watt hours per kilogram. I once calculated whether a nuclear powered aircraft could be feasible, and concluded not because of the weight of the radiation shielding needed.

mollwollfumble said:

I wonder what Uranium-235 is in watt hours per kilogram. I once calculated whether a nuclear powered aircraft could be feasible, and concluded not because of the weight of the radiation shielding needed.

Well, the Americans did put a nuclear reactor in a B-36 bomber (the NB-36H), as part of the idea of nuclear powered aircraft.

It didn’t provide any motive power, it was just there.

The cockpit area had such heavy shielding that crew likened it to flying in a submarine.

The plane was followed everywhere by another plane with a ‘jump crew’ of parachutists whose job was to seal off the area and begin clean-up if the NB-36H crashed.

The idea didn’t develop further.

captain_spalding said:

mollwollfumble said:

I wonder what Uranium-235 is in watt hours per kilogram. I once calculated whether a nuclear powered aircraft could be feasible, and concluded not because of the weight of the radiation shielding needed.

Well, the Americans did put a nuclear reactor in a B-36 bomber (the NB-36H), as part of the idea of nuclear powered aircraft.

It didn’t provide any motive power, it was just there.

The cockpit area had such heavy shielding that crew likened it to flying in a submarine.

The plane was followed everywhere by another plane with a ‘jump crew’ of parachutists whose job was to seal off the area and begin clean-up if the NB-36H crashed.

The idea didn’t develop further.

I imagine there are certain groups in the world who would regard the potential impact of a nuclear powered commercial aircraft as being a really good thing.

Hydrogen or manufactured hydrocarbon fuels + sequestration seem like an altogether better idea to me though.

yeah yeah that would consume a few logs itself

If anyone knows a millionaire or billionaire that would like to invest …
I’ve drawn up an EV aircraft. It’s intended to be an inter-city commuter of up to about 300 km range. Because it’s got to pick-up & drop-off passengers inside the city, it’s also a VTOL. And because it’s a VTOL it had to have a power-to-weight ratio of better than 1:1, and that’s why it has 3,000 hp. I reckon that’d be enough to know over the RR record.

FWIW that’s version 2, I’m up to version 4 now and it’s a lot more sci-fi. Also faster and can lift more. But no pictures of that sorry.

Spiny Norman said:

If anyone knows a millionaire or billionaire that would like to invest …
I’ve drawn up an EV aircraft. It’s intended to be an inter-city commuter of up to about 300 km range. Because it’s got to pick-up & drop-off passengers inside the city, it’s also a VTOL. And because it’s a VTOL it had to have a power-to-weight ratio of better than 1:1, and that’s why it has 3,000 hp. I reckon that’d be enough to know over the RR record.

Looks stylish but dicey. Those fragile single-string hinges on the engines….

Bubblecar said:

Spiny Norman said:

If anyone knows a millionaire or billionaire that would like to invest …
I’ve drawn up an EV aircraft. It’s intended to be an inter-city commuter of up to about 300 km range. Because it’s got to pick-up & drop-off passengers inside the city, it’s also a VTOL. And because it’s a VTOL it had to have a power-to-weight ratio of better than 1:1, and that’s why it has 3,000 hp. I reckon that’d be enough to know over the RR record.

Looks stylish but dicey. Those fragile single-string hinges on the engines….

300kph trains are more practical.

Bubblecar said:

Looks stylish but dicey. Those fragile single-string hinges on the engines….

They would of course be made suitably strong.

Tamb said:

Bubblecar said:

Spiny Norman said:

If anyone knows a millionaire or billionaire that would like to invest …
I’ve drawn up an EV aircraft. It’s intended to be an inter-city commuter of up to about 300 km range. Because it’s got to pick-up & drop-off passengers inside the city, it’s also a VTOL. And because it’s a VTOL it had to have a power-to-weight ratio of better than 1:1, and that’s why it has 3,000 hp. I reckon that’d be enough to know over the RR record.

Looks stylish but dicey. Those fragile single-string hinges on the engines….

300kph trains are more practical.

Good for flights between suburbs in congested cities though. Particularly when going to and from airports where a taxi or airport parking in Melbourne at least is at least $50. A 10 minute trip by air might be competitive at that rate.

Would VTOL electric planes be any more reliable than the VTOL jets?

The Harrier was notorious for requiring very precise pilot skills to avoid certain death.

Bubblecar said:

Would VTOL electric planes be any more reliable than the VTOL jets?

The Harrier was notorious for requiring very precise pilot skills to avoid certain death.

Muchly. There’s a very tiny fraction of moving parts, and while the Harrier has only one engine mine has four. Mine can still make a reasonable landing with one engine out, the Harrier can’t.

sibeen said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

Rolls-Royce Says Its Electric Plane Just Smashed the World Record for Speed

The first electric plane took flight in 1973. There was just one person on board and the plane only stayed in the air for 14 minutes, but it was the beginning of an ongoing effort to power aircraft with batteries instead of fuel. Multiple companies are working on building faster, lighter, more efficient electric planes, as well as batteries to power those planes—and last week an aircraft made by Rolls-Royce hit some new milestones in the industry.

more…

And as viable competition to a fossil fuelled engine…nup, I’ve got more chance of going out with Margot Robbie.

Extension cords are an option, damn long though and imagine the tripping hazard

Cymek said:

sibeen said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

Rolls-Royce Says Its Electric Plane Just Smashed the World Record for Speed

The first electric plane took flight in 1973. There was just one person on board and the plane only stayed in the air for 14 minutes, but it was the beginning of an ongoing effort to power aircraft with batteries instead of fuel. Multiple companies are working on building faster, lighter, more efficient electric planes, as well as batteries to power those planes—and last week an aircraft made by Rolls-Royce hit some new milestones in the industry.

more…

And as viable competition to a fossil fuelled engine…nup, I’ve got more chance of going out with Margot Robbie.

Extension cords are an option, damn long though and imagine the tripping hazard

so hyperloop then

I imagine you’d need a huge breakthrough in battery technology to compete with fuelled engines.
Liquid hydrogen seems to be another option if they can find a friendly way to make it.

Cymek said:

I imagine you’d need a huge breakthrough in battery technology to compete with fuelled engines.
Liquid hydrogen seems to be another option if they can find a friendly way to make it.

Hydrogen combustion in air produces NOx though.

Cymek said:

I imagine you’d need a huge breakthrough in battery technology to compete with fuelled engines.
Liquid hydrogen seems to be another option if they can find a friendly way to make it.

What is unfriendly about the current methods of making it?

The Rev Dodgson said:

Cymek said:

I imagine you’d need a huge breakthrough in battery technology to compete with fuelled engines.
Liquid hydrogen seems to be another option if they can find a friendly way to make it.

What is unfriendly about the current methods of making it?

I was reading the below and it mentions it still uses fossil fuel

https://phys.org/news/2014-09-hydrogen-production-breakthrough-herald-cheap.html

Currently, industrial production of hydrogen relies overwhelmingly on fossil fuels to power the electrolysis process. The most advanced method of generating hydrogen using renewable power uses a method known as proton exchange membrane electrolysers (PEMEs). To reach optimum efficiency, PEMEs require precious metal catalysts to be held in high-pressure containers and subjected to high densities of electric current, which can be difficult to reliably achieve from fluctuating renewable sources.

The new method allows larger-than-ever quantities of hydrogen to be produced at atmospheric pressure using lower power loads, typical of those generated by renewable power sources. It also solves intrinsic safety issues which have so far limited the use of intermittent renewable energy for hydrogen production.

Tamb said:

Cymek said:

I imagine you’d need a huge breakthrough in battery technology to compete with fuelled engines.
Liquid hydrogen seems to be another option if they can find a friendly way to make it.

Hydrogen combustion in air produces NOx though.

I’d somehow missed this problem, but from a quick search all the references seem to be talking about H2 mixed with Methane; e.g.:
“The Clean Energy Group (CEG), a nonprofit advocacy organization, is warning that hydrogen (H2) energy widely touted as a carbon-free source that can be used to limit greenhouse gases (GHG) could create “dangerously high” nitrogen oxide (NOx) levels if blended with natural gas and combusted for power generation.”

Also use with a fuel cell avoids that problem and could be used with prop driven aircraft.

Cymek said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

Cymek said:

I imagine you’d need a huge breakthrough in battery technology to compete with fuelled engines.
Liquid hydrogen seems to be another option if they can find a friendly way to make it.

What is unfriendly about the current methods of making it?

I was reading the below and it mentions it still uses fossil fuel

https://phys.org/news/2014-09-hydrogen-production-breakthrough-herald-cheap.html

Currently, industrial production of hydrogen relies overwhelmingly on fossil fuels to power the electrolysis process. The most advanced method of generating hydrogen using renewable power uses a method known as proton exchange membrane electrolysers (PEMEs). To reach optimum efficiency, PEMEs require precious metal catalysts to be held in high-pressure containers and subjected to high densities of electric current, which can be difficult to reliably achieve from fluctuating renewable sources.

The new method allows larger-than-ever quantities of hydrogen to be produced at atmospheric pressure using lower power loads, typical of those generated by renewable power sources. It also solves intrinsic safety issues which have so far limited the use of intermittent renewable energy for hydrogen production.

OK, but that’s just because it’s currently cheaper to use fossil fuels and shift the hidden costs to the future.

There are already practical methods of making H2 without using fossil fuels.