Piaggio’s Electric or Hydrogen Concept – Not Yet

Dean Sigler Batteries, Electric Powerplants, Hybrid Aircraft, hydrogen, Hydrogen Fuel, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

Clearing the Fumes Charles Alcock reports for FutureFlight.com, and shares that, “Piaggio Aerospace is laying plans for a possible hydrogen-electric business aircraft featuring a completely new airframe.”  Piaggio is probably better know for the Vespa scooters that dot Italian boulevards,  Those have even gone electric, a saving grace for pedestrians along the strada who won’t have to inhale two-stroke engine fumes. Piaggio makes two versions of its Elettrica – 45 Km/H (28 mph) and 70 Km/H (43.5 mph).  Both powered by a four kilowatt (5.36 horsepower) motor, driven by a 48 Volt, 25 kilogram (55 pound) battery.  The speed difference seems to be a software/firmware setting that limits the slower scooter to a regulated speed. It would seem almost natural, then, …

Gogoro Batteries, Hydrogen Scooter Canisters – Energy Distribution in the Future?

Dean Sigler Electric Powerplants, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

One of the hits of the Consumer Electronics Show at Reno, Nevada this year was the Gogoro scooter, an electrical and electronics showcase for its designers and makers.  The stylish two-wheeler, a svelte and quiet people mover, reminds one of the Vespa craze of the late 1950s and early 1960s, but does not belch a blue cloud or emit putta-putta (or papapapa as shown in the vintage commercial here) noises in its wake. Its clean white lines reflect the kind of look we’ve come to expect from modern devices such as laptops, game consoles or other electronic toys.  That might be expected because of Horace Luke’s background as a product designer for HTC, Nike and Microsoft.  To some extent, the …