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An Israeli start-up has made history by completing the first all-electric passenger aircraft flight, paving the way for a cleaner form of commercial air travel.
The aircraft was designed by Eviation, an Israeli start-up founded in 2015 by Kadima Zoran. Several of the top aircraft manufacturers in the world have been attempting to develop electric aircraft, mainly through modifying existing petroleum aeroplanes, but Eviation designed their all-electric aircraft wholly from scratch and it is the first of its kind to complete a full passenger aircraft flight.
The nine-seater aircraft, named Alice, completed a successful eight-minute flight from Moses Lake, Washington, reaching an altitude of approximately 3,500ft. The aircraft runs on rechargeable batteries which take only 30 minutes to fully recharge and it has a top speed of 300mph.
The CEO of Eviation, Gregory Davis said: “The way our aircraft is designed will actually enable economic regional air travel…At present, no one else has flown an aircraft like Alice, so we are proudly leading the way”.
Petroleum fuelled aircraft account for 3% of all global carbon emission, with that number rising every year. These aircraft also produce contrails which have an impact on temperatures by trapping heat in the atmosphere. These new electric innovations could pave the way for a cleaner and more sustainable form of air travel in the future.
Eviation hopes to launch the aircraft for short haul commercial flights in the United States by 2027, which could dramatically cut the costs for airlines as electric aircraft models could cost only $200 per hour to fly, compared to much more expensive fuel-powered aircraft at $2,000 per hour.
