Bye Aerospace, Oxis Energy and the Safran Group have introduced an, “Eight-seat all-electric twin turbo-prop class airplane, the eFlyer 800™.” It’s a fascinating combination of new airframe, new batteries, and new motors. An American airplane powered by English batteries and propelled by French motors will be an international accomplishment, to say the least. The Airplane Maybe not coincidentally with Earth Day, Forbes magazine ran the following introduction. “Bye Aerospace has announced an eight-seat all-electric twin turbo-prop class airplane, the eFlyer 800™, in response to growing demands for regional all-electric airplanes with significantly reduced operating costs, plus increased capacity and utility.” The craft, roughly equivalent to a Beechcraft King Air 260 in every respect except range, will be a fully-electric luxury machine capable of carrying one or two pilots and up to seven passengers. Cruising at up to 320 knots (368 mph) at 35,000 feet would make quick business of its 500 nautical mile (575 statute mile) range. It will have …
400 Watt-Hours per Kilogram by 2014
On its web site, the company boasts, “OXIS Energy is leading the World with its latest cell Energy Density and Capacity,” and proceeds to announce that it’s “developed its largest Lithium Sulfur cell achieving in excess of 300 [Watt-hours per kilogram]. This outperforms Lithium ion technology that has dominated the performance battery market for many years. In addition OXIS has achieved an increase in cell capacity to a 25 Amp-hour (Ah) cell – a world first.” They’re working toward a 33Ah cell. Claiming a twelve-fold improvement in the last 18 months, OXIS, a British battery manufacturer, says it has the confidence to “achieve a cell capacity of 33Ah by mid 2015.” The firm has hopes of energy densities “in excess of 400Wh/kg by the end of 2016 and in excess of 500Wh/kg by the end of 2018.” This doubling of energy density over the best of available lithium-ion batteries now would make the 175-mile-range Nissan Leaf a reality, and bring …