This Tiny Aviation Firm Is Building An All-Electric Commercial Plane For Short Flights By 2022

While electric cars have started evolving around the world, the same cannot be said of electric planes. To date, electric-motor powered aircrafts are few, are small and are only capable of personal flights and pilot training. As it turns out, one Australia based aviation firm has decided to change this scenario.

Aiming to be the ¡°Tesla of aviation¡±, MagniX, a Gold Coast aviation technology company works with the slogan 'electric propulsion of tomorrow' and is on a mission to develop the world¡¯s first electric commercial flight. On a smaller route, of course, but as soon as within the next four years.

MagniX

In a recent interaction, Chief executive officer Roei Ganzarski believes his company was at the spearhead of the technology for electric planes. The company recently tested its all-electric motor at its Arundel facility, post which, Ganzarski mentioned: "We've been able to develop electric propulsion that will enable an aircraft to fly nine to 15 passengers between 100 to 1,000 miles in range."

As per Ganzarski, the batteries are the current limitations for electric planes. And with the existing battery technology, the capability of electric planes is restricted to carrying up to nine passengers over short distances.

Ganzarski also spoke about how the company made a breakthrough recently by testing an electric motor in a Cessna Caravan, a short-haul airliner, with propellers attached, inside a purpose-built cage at Arundel. The next big step for the company would be the first flying test of an aircraft using its own motors, scheduled for 2019 as per Ganzarski.

By 2022, the company aims to come up with an all-electric motor that can be fitted on to any commercial plane. The said motor will also use an in-built liquid cooling system that enables higher efficiency than the other motors being developed around the world.

The goal for now is an all-electric motor for short-haul flights, since that is what the current battery technology would enable. For long-range all-electric flights, the world might take another 20 to 30 years as per Ganzarski.

MagniAlpha Superconductor. (MagniX)

So naturally, focussing on short-range flights is the only option left. An option that will target a broad market of regional flights. And considering the huge margin in the reduced operating costs (by as much as 80 percent) promised by the CEO, it should not take long for the world to shift to this alternative soon after the technology is introduced.

There are, however, a few challenges that have to be faced before this can be a reality. First and foremost is the issue of safety, as the battery technology is still in the evolution process and various check marks are being setup around it day in day out. This would also involve the weight of the batteries and their corresponding output.

Another is passing the set of regulations for such all-electric aircrafts. While for the aircrafts, per se, the existing safety checks and parameters would work well, the same cannot be reciprocated for the electric motors, which are vastly different from their IC engine counterparts and hence the airplanes under question might have to go several additional tests before actually being airborne.

But if and when the concept turns to reality and humans start flying local through electrically run planes, the low operational and management cost will also be able to bring down the prices of the travelling as a whole. If this takes place, few would have a problem to embrace the technology.