PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Electric Battery Passenger Airplanes (how soon?)
Old 9th May 2013 | 21:46
  #4 (permalink)  
911slf
15 Anniversary
 
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 171
Likes: 13
From: Sheffield
Never

The energy density of gasoline is around 46 megaJoule per kilo according to this reference. Energy density - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For Lithium ion batteries energy density is around 0.8 megaJoule per kilo. That implies, in a perfect world a range of (at best) 2% of what can be achieved from kerosene.

That's ignoring all the other show stopping objections, like could they ever be made acceptably safe, and the fact that no weight would be lost in travelling so aircraft would have to land at maximum take off weight with all that implies. Also the cost of the batteries would be vast, and there isn't enough lithium for such applications anyway.

If you are going to think the unthinkable, it might be better to ask what would we have to do if we were no longer able to fly at all, at any cost? By all means ask that question but as this is an aviation forum you might do better raising it elsewhere.
911slf is offline  
Reply