A fully electrical two-engine aircraft from Aviation Aircraft, designed for regional transport at very modest distances, successfully completed its first flight to the United States, and the passenger small model Alice was in the air for eight minutes.
According to the head of Aviation Aircraft, Gregory Davis, Alice's flight has entered the history of aviation, which is the first electric plane for small airlines. Although the electric "aerotoxy" has already been tested in the air on several occasions, the Eviation has placed its development in a separate category, since it is only capable of carrying up to nine people — competitors have not yet achieved such performances, and it is also one of the few aircraft of a new type with a classic fuselage.
Last week, a high-speed ground test was conducted to test the reliability of the systems. The 17-metre Alice has not only two electric motors, but also batteries with a total weight of 8,000 pounds — more than 3.6 tons. During the flight, the aircraft developed a speed of about 275 km/h.
Although the aircraft has been successful, there are a number of major challenges facing the developers, the main one being the weight of batteries, which needs to be reduced by increasing the energy intensity of batteries, while the company is waiting for the industry to solve this problem, as a result, the time of flight is expected to reach 1 to 2 hours and the distance to 270 and even 460 kilometres.
Batteries are an important but not the only problem: more tests are needed, regulators are certified, and finally the prices of liners are reduced to the level at which the aircraft will want to buy an airline. The supply is expected to start in 2027.
The electric plane of Alice is indeed an important milestone, but at first commercial flights to such aircraft are likely to be limited to a "elite" segment in which a small number of passengers will be transported in small distances. A larger electric vehicle is unlikely to be available in the foreseeable future.