After the entry of electric cars and electric scooters, electrical flights might soon be a reality. For a very long time, the news of electric flights becoming a reality is surfacing. But now, many startups are working on to make it a reality. If it happens, we will be flying in the air with zero emission of harmful pollutants and make it green. The flights will be powered by a battery and that there will no use of fuels. Thus, the natural fuels will be saved and can be used in effective and important matters. But, there are some problems too.
For a long time, the electric flights’ models and prototypes are being designed. But now, the underdevelopment model looks good, unlike the traditional models. The newer models look more slim and helicopter-like models. They are thought to be made of carbon fibre to make it lightweight because it will run on battery. Less weight will mean more battery power can be used to take the flight forward.
Startups And Companies Working On Electric Flights
If we take a count, nearly 20 companies are working on making electric flights a reality. For example, top companies like Boeing, Airbus and Uber are trying to make electric flights a reality. They are trying to design and develop electric flights which can be used commercially. Moreover, the main benefit of using electric flights will be less pollution in nature. The pollutants released by the burning of fuels in powering the engines will be eliminated. But as we speak, there are limitations too.
Since the aircraft fly above the ground and at a tremendous rate, it becomes difficult to do it with battery. The battery has to be extra powerful to supply the necessary amount of energy. Hence, the battery size will be large which will further add on to the weight of the aircraft. If we compare it with electric cars, Tesla’s Model 3 engine which helps the car to be driven 300 miles will be nothing for aircraft. They will allow only a two-person flight to fly within a limited range. In this, the fuels are efficient since they produce energy equivalent to 43 batteries of their size.
If such is the scenario, we will have to wait a lot more years for the electric flights to be a reality. If the battery efficiency and performance can be increased at least 5 per cent per year, we can think of using the battery as a replacement for fuels commercially. For now, the battery power is too low to power such powerful aircraft for long distances.
Earlier in 2016, we have seen a solar-powered aircraft complete a revolution of the Earth. But, it was not much efficient. It was covered with 17,000 photovoltaic cells and was charged during the day. The maximum speed it could achieve was 30 mph which is nearly 18 times as slow as fuel aircraft. Aircraft are meant for fast travel and if these are too slow, no one will use it as an alternative solution. Hence, once the battery performance is increased, we can think of electric flights being a reality.