Tag: Alice prototype

The State of Electric Aviation in 2023

An article discussing the advancements made in electric aviation in 2023 in Aviation Today reports that the aviation industry is under sharp scrutiny for its environmental impact. As the industry is highly fossil fuel-reliant, it has invested heavily in new electric and hybrid-electric technologies that will make flying more sustainable. Some milestones for this year include Heart Aerospace developing an electric regional airline named the ES-30, which received an order for up to 40 of the aircraft from aircraft lessor Rockton in May. Another new advancement is Eviation’s development of zero-emissions aircraft Alice; aircraft lessor MONTE signed a letter of intent to purchase up to 30 of the aircraft. Both of these aircraft orders “highlight the increasing pressure the industry and its stakeholders feel to roll out cleaner technology.”
Full Story (Aviation Today)

Megawatt Electrical Motor Could Electrify Aviation

CleanTechnica reported that a team of MIT engineers “is now creating a 1-megawatt motor that could be a key stepping-stone toward electrifying larger aircraft.” The team has “designed and tested the major components of the motor, and shown through detailed computations that the coupled components can work as a whole to generate one megawatt of power, at a weight and size competitive with current small aero-engines.” T. Wilson Professor in Aeronautics and the Director of the Gas Turbine Laboratory (GTL) at MIT Zoltan Spakovszky, who leads the project, said, “No matter what we use as an energy carrier – batteries, hydrogen, ammonia, or sustainable aviation fuel – independent of all that, megawatt-class motors will be a key enabler for greening aviation.” Spakovszky and members of his team, along with industry collaborators, “will present their work at a special session of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics – Electric Aircraft Technologies Symposium (EATS) at [AIAA AVIATION Forum this week].”
More Info (Clean Technica)

Aerus Signs LOI for 30 Eviation Electric Aircraft

Aviation Today reports that electric aircraft manufacturer Eviation “announced last week that the airline Aerus signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) for 30 commuter aircraft.” Aerus, a regional airline in Mexico, “plans to serve communities in the northern parts of the country including Nuevo León, Coahuila, Tamaulipas, and Veracruz.” The airline will “use Monterrey Airport as its regional hub to launch commercial operations this year.” Eviation’s Alice aircraft “has nine seats and is fully electric.”
Full Story (Aviation Today)

Electric Aviation Set to Fly in Australia

The Guardian (UK) reports that in late September “the first fixed-wing passenger electric passenger aircraft took off from Grant County international airport in the US state of Washington.” The nine-seater charter plane – known as Alice – “soared to 1,000 metres (3,500 feet) for eight minutes.” Less than two months later “Northern Territory Air Services, a scheduled airline and charter operator, put in an order to bring 20 of the aircraft to Australia with plans to fly passengers from Darwin to Uluru and Mount Isa.” It’s a small sign “that the winds may be changing for zero-emissions aviation in Australia, one of the most flight-dependent countries in the world.” Until recently there was “no industry body making the case for change and even the Royal Flying Doctor Service, which operates the largest air fleet in the country and has traditionally been a hotbed of innovation, has no plans to acquire or develop electric aircraft.” Yet away from the spotlight, “a small crop of startups and aviation companies have been working on electric flight.”
Full Story (The Guardian)

Eviation Alice Performs First Flight

The AP reports that Eviation’s prototype electric aircraft took its first flight Tuesday. Aviation Week reports that the Alice prototype made its first flight from Moses Lake, Washington, “marking a major milestone on the road towards the fielding of a new generation of sustainable air vehicles.”
Full Story (Associated Press)
More Info (Aviation Week)

Air Taxi Business May Get Early Business from Airline Alliance

Aerospace America reports that electric air taxi aircraft are seeing early customers in the form of the major airlines of American, United, and Delta. Examples include Delta’s $60 million investment in Joby Aviation, American placing a large pre-order with Vertical Aerospace, and United pledging to buy from Archer Aviation and Eve Air Mobility.
Full Story (Aerospace America)