EasyJet hoping to fly electric planes within a decade – reality is very limited, and a long time ahead
EasyJet has announced that it is hoping to fly planes powered by batteries rather than kerosene to destinations including Paris and Amsterdam within a decade. EasyJet has formed a partnership with US firm Wright Electric, which is developing a battery-propelled aircraft for flights under two hours. It has all sorts of hype about the difference this will make to carbon emissions etc. However, the weight problem of batteries imposes limits on distance a plane could fly. Jet fuel is around 50 times more energy dense than the best lithium batteries we have now. It seems extremely unlikely they could get a fully electric passenger aircraft carrying 120 passengers on 300 mile journeys in service in 10 years? It is more likely that the aircraft will use some kind of hybrid power system, using batteries to provide a boost on take-off, but then running engines using power from an on-board generator during flight (or vice versa). And it will take a lot more than 10 years for them to be in regular service. The short flights on which these could be used would be precisely those where rail (especially high speed rail) is a good alternative. Routes without a rail option might be Southampton to Dublin or Bristol to Paris. It is likely to be the kind of fake ‘aspiration’ to allow an uninformed public to believe that there is, or could be a green version of aviation. It is peddling false dreams, to let the industry continue with “business as usual” avoiding real cuts to CO2 emissions.
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An AirportWatch member, who works in technology, wrote:
It’s definitely do-able, but the weight problem of batteries is always going to limit how far you can take it. Bear in mind jet fuel is something like 50x more energy dense than the best lithium batteries we have now. Wright Electric, who Easyjet are teaming up with on this, are a tech start-up that are exploring the viability of battery-powered transportation, so are mostly doing desk studies of potential future applications of technology.
Could you get a fully electric passenger aircraft carrying 120 passengers on 300 mile journeys in service in 10 years? Possible, but extremely unlikely.
It’s more likely that the aircraft will use some kind of hybrid power system, using batteries to provide a boost on take-off, but then running engines using power from an on-board generator during flight (or vice versa). And it will take a lot more than 10 years for them to be in regular service.
Will it actually make a difference? The range being proposed for this is 300 miles, which is extremely low. I can see it being used on mid-capacity short regional routes that can’t easily be served by high speed electric rail, such as Southampton to Dublin or Bristol to Paris, but that’s about the limit, at least for the next 20 years.
Whether it can be done economically is another question, but given the potential cost savings on fuel, I can see it potentially being competitive even with the massive development cost that will need to go into bringing a new passenger aircraft design to market with an unproven propulsion system.
Is it something we need to bear in mind? Not really. The impact it will have on the aviation industry is negligible.
The only thing it will do is provide a slender lifeline to point-to-point short haul flights and small regional airports, which may be included as a footnote for long-term aviation capacity planning.
It strikes me as the kind of fake ‘aspiration’ to allow an uninformed public to believe that there is, or could be a green version of aviation, like Branson with his algae. it is peddling false dreams, to let the industry continue with “business as usual” avoiding real cuts to their carbon emissions.
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EasyJet says it could be flying electric planes within a decade
UK-based airline has linked up with US firm Wright Electric to build battery-powered aircraft for flights under two hours
By Angela Monaghan (Guardian)
Wednesday 27 September 2017
EasyJet could be flying planes powered by batteries rather than petroleum to destinations including Paris and Amsterdam within a decade.
The UK carrier has formed a partnership with US firm Wright Electric, which is developing a battery-propelled aircraft for flights under two hours.
EasyJet said the move would enable battery-powered aircraft to travel short-haul routes such as London to Paris and Amsterdam, and Edinburgh to Bristol. Wright Electric is aiming for an aircraft range of 335 miles, which would cover the journeys of about a fifth of passengers flown by easyJet.
Carolyn McCall, easyJet’s chief executive, said the aerospace industry would follow the lead of the automotive industry in developing electric engines that would cut emissions and noise.
“For the first time in my career I can envisage a future without jet fuel and we are excited to be part of it,” she said. “It is now more a matter of when, not if, a short-haul electric plane will fly.”
The airline said it was the next step in making the airline less harmful for the environment, after cutting carbon emissions per passenger kilometre by 31% between 2000 and 2016.
Wright Electric claims that electric planes will be 50% quieter and 10% cheaper for airlines to buy and operate, with the cost saving potentially passed on to passengers.
The US firm said its goal was for every short flight to be electric within 20 years. It has already built a two-seater prototype and is working towards a fully electric plane within a decade. The next step is to scale-up the technology to a 10-seater aircraft, and eventually to build a single aisle, short haul commercial plane, with the capacity to carry at least 120 passengers.
Wright Electric was founded in 2016 by a team of aerospace engineers, powertrain experts, and battery chemists, with a background in organisations including Nasa, Boeing, and Cessna.
Jeffrey Engler, chief executive and founder of Wright Electric, said the startup firm’s partnership with easyJet was “a powerful validation” of its work. “Their insights have been invaluable as we look to commercialise our electric aircraft for the large and growing short-haul flight markets,” he added.
EasyJet’s chief commercial officer, Peter Duffy, said the partnership would help Wright Electric understand what was required to make the planes commercially successful, looking at factors such as maintenance and revenue management.
“You’re seeing cities and countries starting to talk about banning diesel combustion engines. That would have been unthinkable just a short time ago,” Duffy said. “As technology moves on, attitudes shift, ambitions change and you see opportunities you didn’t see. This is genuinely exciting.”
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/sep/27/easyjet-electric-planes-wright-electric-flights
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EasyJet plans to use electric planes for short haul flights within 10 years
28.9.2017 (Evening Standard)
Passengers could soon be flying on electric planes instead of those powered by conventional jet engines – and it could mean lower fares.
In as little as ten years, the proposed planes could be flying short-haul flights such as London to Paris or Edinburgh to Bristol, easyJey said.
The airline is working with new US-based aircraft builders Wright Electric, which is developing battery-powered aircraft for flights under two hours, cutting emissions, noise and fuel consumption.
The firm has already built a two-seater prototype and is working towards a fully electric plane within a decade, with capacities from 120 passengers upwards. It believes every short-haul flight could be zero-emissions in the next 20 years, with the electricity coming from solar or wind.
The US company believes that, compared with traditional aircraft, electric planes will be up to 50 per cent quieter and 10 per cent cheaper for airlines to buy and operate. This saving could be passed on to passengers through lower fares.
EasyJet chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall said: “It is now more a matter of when, not if, a short haul electric plane will fly.”
She added: “For the first time in my career I can envisage a future without jet fuel and we are excited to be part of it.”
The airline’s chief commercial officer Peter Duffy said: “You’re seeing cities and countries starting to talk about banning diesel combustion engines. That would have been unthinkable just a short time ago.
“As technology moves on attitudes shift, ambitions change and you see opportunities you didn’t see. This is genuinely exciting.”
He said the partnership will help Wright Electric understand what their planes need in order to be commercially successful, such as revenue management and maintenance requirements.
Jeffrey Engler, Wright Electric co-founder, said he wants to make flying “as clean and sustainable as possible”.
His company is focused on improving batteries and making the aircraft frame as efficient as possible for use with electric motors. Conventional short-haul aircraft have one large jet engine underneath each wing, but electric planes would have several smaller motors.
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