Originally Posted by
27/09
Good point re the efficiency of the the different engines. I'd say the battery (electrical) technology will need to surpass (not just equal) whats being achieved by the internal combustion engine before they will have any real impact.
Why do you say that? I would think that if we can get to within say 2-3x energy density then electric storage and propulsion will become quite viable for at least light weight short range aviation purposes. The reason I would suggest that is because the disadvantage in weight may be overcome by the advantage of reliability, cost, and the relative cost of the energy source (electricty is several times cheaper than petrol/diesl relative to it's usable power - if it wasn't, we'd all go off the grid and run our own petrol/diesl powered generators!)
Can we improve battery power to that point? Within 5 years, I would say no, but beyond that? I think we would be foolish to doubt it.
Elon Musk has arguably personally pushed the world ahead 10 years from where it would otherwise be. You can bet there are many billions being spent quietly around the world to compete with his battery factory.