Originally Posted by
procede
I think the main issue is that the pipistrel can only fly 50 min + 10 min VFR reserve (and those are optimistic numbers). No way you could transport paying passengers.
That is not the point. What the certification standards commercial electric airplanes will have to meet is hugely consequential for companies pursuing this technology. Determining a “equivalent level of safety” for a completely novel power train compared to existing certified a power plants, is not obvious or easy. Regulators are understandably leery of approving something that is potentially unsafe, yet at the same time are facing a lot of political pressure to enable green technologies.
I expect electric aircraft will go through a cycle similar to other transformative technologies. There will be a lot of dead ends, a Shyte load of hype and BS design to separate suckers from their money and then eventually some serious projects. However the reality is that the laws of physics and chemistry makes practical electric powered airplanes, whether, battery, hydrogen, or something else a very tough problem to solve.