Range: 125 miles all electric
500 miles with hybrid system (electric + conventional turbo prop)Yeah... this isn't going to do it. Maybe there's an argument for this hybrid plane in the regional airliner market if there's a significant fuel savings vs. turboprops (the linked video is silent on the subject, but it's plausible).
But the "all electric" bit is just a joke.
Edit to point out: this company is less sexy, but has made the same design mistake Boom did: they designed a physical airframe for what is actually a propulsion problem. Boom's story about how they're going to push their plane has changed like six times now. And likewise what this startup should be hawking is a hybrid turboprop that they can sell to Bombardier or whoever.
I mean, who cares that they built yet another high wing puddle jumper? That's a 60-year-solved problem. It's the stuff in the nacelles that matters!
> the grueling two hour drives
What country are you in, and perhaps more importantly, what roads are you driving on?
And sure, there are places in the world that don't have limited access highways. But the 125 mile range is already served very well by piston-driven lightplanes! Again, who's going to buy one of these vs. just continuing to run their 40+ year old Beavers or Caravans or whatever?
Also: if the only market for your high tech electric superplane startup is backcountry work in Alaska, you're probably never going to get funded to begin with.
What car are you driving?
How are you not dead?
Yes, it can go farther if you burn fuel. But so can a Dash-8, very effectively. No one is interested in hybrid range per se, only if the hybrid mode is more efficient.
They need to hire an actual designer, if the plane weighs 0.5% more but has actual human usability that's worth it.
What an age to witness.
feb•2d ago