Electric Airplane Takes Off

Video no longer available.

The Airbus E-Fan 2.0 is a plug in electric airplane that debuted at the Paris Airshow.

Was it recorded on a $5 webcam?

[Joce640k]

There's nothing like an information-packed, high-definition video to start the day...

Not useless

[Joce640k]

100% electric aircraft aren't viable yet but surely this tech could be used to supplement traditional aircraft, eg. as a take-off booster or whatever (taking off and climbing to cruising altitude takes a big chunk of the fuel). Even if it can only cut fuel by 5% overall on each flight it's still a big saving.

After takeoff the electric motors could be cut and then recharged by solar panels during the remainder of the flight.

Re:

[lostinbrave]

I was wondering what adding solar cells would do to the flight distance of the vehicle, there would be a gain, but would it be a big enough difference. If it gave a more than a 5% increase I think it would be help full enough to look into. And if it was designed more like a glider you could get even more out of it since the batteries would charge when the plane was in a glide.