A Race Between an Elektra Solar Trainer and a Lucid Air Sedan

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A race last week between an Elektra Solar Trainer and a Lucid Air sedan shows the great strides made in electrification for both cars and airplanes. Electrive.com reports, “A special race went down this week in Germany, setting an electric car against an ultra-light electric aircraft in the ‘E-Flight Challenge 2023.’” This was a relatively high-end affair, as is often true at the onset of new technologies replacing more well-established ones.  The Lucid Air sedan comes in several levels of performance and trim, with the least expensive starting at $78,900.  The “Pure” rear-wheel drive features a single 480 horsepower motor and is claimed to travel up to 410 miles on a single charge.  In all-wheel drive form, it costs $83,900 and manages 384 miles on a single charge of its 92 kilowatt-hour battery.  Pures weigh around 2,100 kilograms (4,620 pounds) A great deal lighter at around 1,332 pounds maximum takeoff weight, the Elektra Solar Trainer flies on a mere 12 …

Aussies Attempt Electric Aircraft World Endurance Record

Dean Sigler Announcements, Batteries, Electric Powerplants, Sustainable Aviation 1 Comment

An Australian flying school and a flight planning software enterprise are in the middle of a series of flights that attempt to break an electric aircraft world endurance record. The cleverly-named Eyre to There Aviation announces that, “In partnership with platinum sponsor AvPlan EFB will aim to break a world endurance record for an electric aircraft with a 7-day, 18-stop flight around South Australia.” According to the organizers, “The proposed route will include flying across to the Lower Eyre Peninsula and inland back to Port Augusta for flight sectors around the Yorke Peninsula before arriving back in Adelaide, subject to aircraft performance and weather.” A 1,150 kilometer (714.6 mile) trek, the flight would “shatter the previous record of 750 km (466 miles) flown in September 2020 in [Switzerland and] Germany.”  The Europeans needed 11 stops for recharging on their trip, so the 18 planned by the Australians is comparable for the planned distance. Aviation vlogger Stefan Drury hopped a ride …

Pipistrel Velis Electro Celebrates a Year of Certification

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A Year of Recognition Pipistrel celebrates the one-year anniversary of type certification for its Velis Electro. In a press release, Taja Boscarol, Co-owner, Head of PR, and Co-director of Pipistrel d.o.o. (equivalent to a limited liability corporation in America), notes the Velis Electro remains the only type-certified electrically powered airplane in the world.  Recipient of the first such recognition for a battery-powered aircraft, the Velis has received other accolades. Recognition includes a 2020 Plane of the Year award from Plane & Pilot magazine, along with the Epic E1000, a very different craft. The magazine lauded the Velis Electro’s unobtrusive nature, both in noise and emissions.  “We’re making a lot of noise about this plane, true, and that’s a bit out of place for the Velis Electro, which at certification became the quietest powered trainer in the skies. And as much talk as there is on the politics of emissions and the problem of our leaded fuel, the Velis produces zero …

Happy Velis Electro News from Pipistrel

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Taja Boscarol, Public Relations Manager for Pipistel Vertical Solutions, and Michael Coates, Master Distributor for USA, Australia & New Zealand, shared a lot of happy news this week about their Velis Electro. Electric Outsells Gasoline Powered Michael puts his news in enthusiastic, all-caps context.  “The US has a new president, Europe is under siege from new Covid varieties, and Pipistrel is adding a SECOND SHIFT TO KEEP UP WITH PRODUCTION! “Did you know that in 2020 Pipistrel DELIVERED 111 (one-hundred and eleven) of the certified Pipistrel Velis electric aircraft, as well as many more Pipistrel ALPHA Electro aircraft?  In fact, this year for the first time ever, Pipistrel produced more electric aircraft than gasoline powered!” More than 70 Pipistrel Velis aircraft are already on 2021’s order books, with many more anticipated through the remaining 11 months of the year. The second shift essentially means doubling production, and this of course leads to increased demand from suppliers.  Michael adds, “Pipistrel is …

E2 Glide – Electrifying Sailplane Competitions

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Uwe Beger, competition director for a new form of sailplane contenst, wrote this in response to our entry on the Pipistrel Velis’ multiple records flying from Switzerland to the North Sea.  “From August 29th to September 5th 2020 fifteen pilots from 6 different nations flew a cross country flying contest (E2 Glide), where the usage of electric engines (Front Electric Sustainers as well as Retractable Electric Engines) was allowed within some contingent of 2 up to 2.5 kWh per flight. Altogether the participants managed to fly a distance of nearly 10,000km (6,214 miles) with the use of 150 kWh of energy in sum.”  That’s about 41.4 miles per kilowatt hour. “Not that bad compared to the world records of the Pipistrel Velis Electro ;-)”  Granted that sailplanes are highly optimized vehicles that generate as little drag as anything flying – other than birds, perhaps.  Each pilot in the E2 Glide gathering would have used an average of 10 kilowatt-hours of …

Switzerland to the North Sea – Flying Electrically

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We’re still early in attempts to set world records with electric airplanes.  Jean-Luc Soullier, a friend of the blog, held many of them a decade ago, flying a little Colomban MC-30, an ultralight designed by one of Concorde’s engineers.  At the other end of the size scale, Solar Impulse set many records on its globe-girdling treks.  Now, a five-member mostly German team hopes to set seven world records “in one fell swoop” as they electrically traverse 700 kilometers (435 miles) between the Schanis, Switzerland airport and Norderney Airport on Germany’s North Sea. Friends of Electric Mobility The five have interesting professional lives beyond their love of flight.  “Futurologist Morell Westermann, Swiss pilot Marco Buholzer, the Norderneyer brewer Tobi Pape, the video and music producer Tom Albrecht and the podcaster Malik Aziz, who founded the association ‘Friends of Electric Mobility’ want to start on August 31,” according to Electric-Flight.eu.  They will fly Pipistrel’s recently certified Velis Electro.  The team adds, “Above …

Pipistrel Velis: Part of an Electric Heritage

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The Pipistrel Velis is the culmination of 13 years of electric aircraft development and the first to gain certification by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) on June 10. Pipistrel has been in the electric airplane business since 2007 when it announced the Taurus Electro motorglider, which entered service in 2011.  That aircraft went through several iterations, and is still part of the Pipistrel lineup of electric planes, which includes the Alpha Electro Trainer, the Panthera Hybrid, and the new Velis. Alpha Electro Trainer in SoCal An electric version of the Alpha Trainer, the Electro has been in production since 2015.  With an empty weight of 615 pounds (279 kg) and a maximum take-off weight of 1,212 pounds (550 kg), it is a bit heavier than the Rotax-powered gas version, and carries about 100 pounds less payload.  Both have similar performance, though, with rates of climb around 1,200 feet per minute. Joseph Oldham started a well-organized, well-intentioned operation to …