Continue to Site

Eng-Tips is the largest engineering community on the Internet

Intelligent Work Forums for Engineering Professionals

  • Congratulations Danlap on being selected by the Eng-Tips community for having the most helpful posts in the forums last week. Way to Go!

Electric planes ... a cold shower of reality ... 1

Status
Not open for further replies.

rb1957

Aerospace
Apr 15, 2005
15,840
from Flight today ...
Tecnam pauses P-Volt on battery concerns
Italian airframer Tecnam has paused development of its all-electric P-Volt aircraft citing a lack of certainty around improvements in battery performance to deliver a “viable” product. Launched in 2020 in partnership with propulsion supplier Rolls-Royce, the P-Volt was an all-electric version of the company’s popular P2022 Traveller. It was due to enter service in 2026 with Norwegian regional carrier Wideroe.
However, the Capua, Naples-based manufacturer says that after “three years of intensive studies” covering the whole lifecycle of an all-electric aircraft, it does not believe that battery technology has advanced sufficiently to make the project viable. Tecnam says it was striving to deliver an aircraft that could be operated “profitably, sustainably and efficiently” against typical airline metrics, and with a clear time to market. “At present, Tecnam believes that these can only be achieved by extremely aggressive speculation on uncertain technology developments,” it says. Analysis of energy storage solutions and their development path over the next five years, “excluding technological revolutions that no one can speculate on”, led the airframer to conclude that from investment perspective “an aircraft with a battery pack at the end of its life would not be the best product for the market, but certainly the worst”. Likely battery performance degradation would see aircraft range quickly reduced “after a few weeks of operation” and would not offer a solution towards the decarbonisation of aviation.
It predicts that the storage capacity of cells would quickly fall below 170Wh/kg, leading operators to “replace the entire storage unit” after “only a few hundred flights” leading to a “dramatic increase in direct operating costs”. On that basis, the development of a new all-electric aircraft for service entry in the 2026-2028 period that could deliver against CO2, operating cost and profitability metrics would not be “viable”, Tecnam says. Preliminary specifications released by Tecnam in 2021 said the P-Volt would be able to fly routes of 85nm (160km) using “today’s technology”, rising to 145nm by 2030, compared with 950nm for the piston-powered P2012. Other performance figures were also lower than the baseline aircraft: useful load was 810kg (1,790lb) against 1,410kg, while cruise speed was 120kt (222km/h) versus 173kt. Chief R&D officer Fabio Russo – who has previously been highly critical of the promises made by other developers of all-electric aircraft – says that the company does not feel pressured to bring a product to market by 2026. “It has always been our culture to commit to achievable goals with customers and operators, and we intend to keep that promise. We hope that new technologies will make businesses viable sooner rather than later, and we have real confidence in our partners’ ability to bring highly valuable products to the zero-emission powertrain and energy storage arena.”
But Tecnam will continue its research activities in the space “ready to bring the P-Volt back into the type certification arena as soon as technology evolution allows.”
Tecnam does not disclose the impact of the decision on its relationship with Rolls-Royce or Wideroe, although Russo adds: ”We are extremely proud to keep working with every company that is developing new technologies for aviation and with every airline that is willing to participate [in the process]… without aggressive time-to-market speculation.”


"Hoffen wir mal, dass alles gut geht !"
General Paulus, Nov 1942, outside Stalingrad after the launch of Operation Uranus.
 
Replies continue below

Recommended for you

An electric conversion of an existing airframe will be about as successful as an electric conversion of an existing car. Yes, it'll work, it may even be useful, but it will not be competitive with a purpose designed aircraft that leverages the unique attributes of the BE powertrain. In the example given, you'd make different tradeoffs for a 173 kt cruise compared with 120 kt.

Cheers

Greg Locock


New here? Try reading these, they might help FAQ731-376
 
Archer Aviation ... "Our goal is to deploy 6000 aircraft by 2030" ... it's good to have goals ... laughable tho' they may be.

"Hoffen wir mal, dass alles gut geht !"
General Paulus, Nov 1942, outside Stalingrad after the launch of Operation Uranus.
 
Drones and AI computation will in the short time, not in my time, let´s say within 20 or 30 years, revolution aircraft engeneering. Airports and traveling in the air will be complitly different and much more ambiently clean and safe than they are today. [atom]
 
The entire Ace VTOL website has a Wow, crazy feel... Is it all vapor and beautiful CAD models, or do they have real working hardware?
 
yeah, but it does have "next gen plasma engine" (because this gen plasma engine worked so well !?)

that site has all the appeal of a HS project.

but then I guess we're "deniers" ?

"Hoffen wir mal, dass alles gut geht !"
General Paulus, Nov 1942, outside Stalingrad after the launch of Operation Uranus.
 
The Ace VTOL website has to be an web dev exercise - nothing there makes sense or I am woefully behind the times on tech. . .
 
Brian - you need to drink a very large glass of the kool-aid, then it will make sense ...........
 
how do you make a small fortune in aerospace ?

"Hoffen wir mal, dass alles gut geht !"
General Paulus, Nov 1942, outside Stalingrad after the launch of Operation Uranus.
 
Make a fancy web site to convince investors to give you a large fortune to play with.
 
yeah, start with a large one ...

"Hoffen wir mal, dass alles gut geht !"
General Paulus, Nov 1942, outside Stalingrad after the launch of Operation Uranus.
 
Imagine the early years of aviation... the 1920's when everything was newly evolving science/engineering and few lessons-learned and experiences were available to guide designers, inventors or companies.

I think this is exactly WHY the US government and the Army and Navy created their research and development organizations... The CAA, Wright Aeronautical Laboratories, Langley, etc... to assist in 'figuring it all out' for the better-future of the USA.

So my added 2-cents... for fun... maybe 20-years(?) from now...

Calvin-and-Hobbes_Someday_it_will_make_sense_hgtytl.jpg


Regards, Wil Taylor
o Trust - But Verify!
o For those who believe, no proof is required; for those who cannot believe, no proof is possible. [variation, Stuart Chase]
o Unfortunately, in science what You 'believe' is irrelevant. ["Orion", HBA forum]
o Only fools and charlatans know everything and understand everything." -Anton Chekhov
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Part and Inventory Search

Sponsor