Electric-plane
Next level electric – the long road to electric flying

It is of course not surprising that we mainly focus on electric driving in our blogs. Electric cars (and then of course especially the intelligent charging solutions that go with it) is our profession and, frankly, for most of our employees also quite a passion.
But it is clear that the world of electric and sustainability is broader than the electric car and electric bicycle. The need to look for sustainable and electrical solutions on a large(er) scale has never been more apparent than in the past year.
And if there is one industry where sustainability must be given a huge priority, it is air traffic. That is why in today’s blog we deviate from our core, but look at a different type of mobility – electric flying.

More durable, cleaner, quieter

Many engineers have been working on solutions for electric flying for years. It should come as no surprise that the road to a feasible solution for passenger air traffic is not an easy one and a long one. Where years ago the chances of successful electric flying were dismissed as utopia, we are currently on a completely different plane.
After all, not the least names are working on a solution on a global scale. Airbus, Rolls-Royce and Honda are each working on their models for electrically powered aircraft. But NASA is also making an important contribution and is working on a (currently) two-seater that will be used for test flights next year.

Flying must be cleaner and more sustainable. Electric flying could be a huge step in this direction, but for the time being fully electric is still a long way from us for passenger air traffic. Hybrid solution, as we also see in car traffic, is a first step forward that is already more promising.

The challenges

Weight is important in electric cars. This is much more true in an airplane. And therein lies the biggest challenge (and limitation, for the time being) for electrically powered flying. Powering aircraft of the Boeing-737 level requires battery packs that are the size of another aircraft and are even heavier than the aircraft itself.
The battery of the future for air traffic must therefore be smaller, lighter AND without liquid content. Worldwide (also in the Netherlands) work has therefore been going on for years on THAT issue in particular.
Until that breakthrough is a fact, more sustainable solutions are therefore hybrid; a combination of fuel and batteries.
Range is, of course, also important, such as the range of an electric car. Achieving a certain speed for a longer flight time is required to really make long distances possible. And making distances is so important for flying.

Back to electric driving

We closely follow all developments at Ecotap. We are also continuing to develop in the field of electric charging and driving.
View our business and private charging solutions on the website or contact us for a free consultation!