Eviation's all electric Alice luxury aircraft is getting ready for its first test flight

Eviation's Alice is a nine seat luxury aircraft [2,3,4]. It has a modest range of 440 nm (506 miles or 800+ km for the rest of us mooks). The cool thing about it, other than it's looks, is that it's purely electric: there is no combustion at all in the aircraft.

The Alice is driven by three very large electrical motors. Those motors are powered by a 840 kw-h battery pack. Pack may be a bit of an understatement. The Tesla model 3 has batteries ranging from 50 kw-h to 80 kw-h. The Alice holds from 10 1/2 to almost 17 times as much.

The Seattle based company has taken delivery of the first of the new electrical motors and hopes to do test flights soon.

Personally, I think it's really cool and the aircraft looks gorgeous. Electric powered aircraft have come a LOOOOONG way from the Green Flight Challenge[4] NASA ran. However, I have to wonder how much the ground crews are going to like the wingtip propellers.

We will see if this gets anywhere.

Just curious, was Eviation founded by ex Boeing folks? The location would suggest that to me.

1. newatlas.com...
2. www.eviation.co...
3. en.wikipedia.org...
4. www.nasa.gov...

a reply to: anzha

Very rarely do I these days a design look's beautiful but this does.

As battery technology continues to progress, get lighter, more powerful and longer lasting this is the inevitable future of aviation.

For company's like this if they can weather the hiccup's leading up to that time they are already in it from the ground up not to crack a pun lightly.

I like it, I just hope it is a success and good luck to these guy's and there venture.

What form of fuel charges the batteries?

a reply to: panoz77

That is an interesting point but also a trick one, as power generation moves toward more viable and less destructive sources that will eventually also become more green, at the moment though your point is valid and extremely funny in a sad way.

Currently the so called Green transport is actually just a scam, most of the power is being generated from fossil fuels so the carbon is still being produced.

Personally though I do think the carbon argument is a load of rubbish, I am far more concerned about cadmium and mercury pollution from OLD battery's, cancer causing hydrocarbon's released from old engines (benzine itself is an aromatic ring molecule that is known to cause or trigger cancer a so called carcinogen and plastics that once the wonder technology destined to replace so much else has become a plague of epic proportions to our ecosystems).

Also cutting down tree's to grow palm oil or breed cattle (amazon) only for the topsoil to deplete very quickly and turn barren never to be replanted meaning the cattle farmers then have to cut more rainforest down to grow more short lived grass to feed there cattle leaving a desert behind them is actually doing FAR MORE HARM than all the CO2 we could pump into the atmosphere.

It's a cycle, if the tree's are not there to absorb it, the sea is dying because of plastics and Bayer/Monsanto poison's washing into it and killing the ecosystem in the water then carbon will build up in the atmosphere no matter what we do, if however the sea is healthy and Bayer/Monsanto is not killing the world, the farmers of Brazil and Asia stop destroying the Jungle for a quick buck then and only then will the planet's natural cycle be restored and guess what IF they do that we can actually burn all the bloody coal we like because it get's absorbed by nature and used to build plant's and animal body's.

Instead of treating the disease they are treating the symptom and strangling society to do it.

And worse they are true believers in the CULT of Carbon, when in fact it is far more complex than there tiny mind's seem to be able to grasp.

Sorry double post, slow connection on my end I think.

a reply to: LABTECH767

Yes everything to generate power right now as is on earth is going to have some kind of footprint
Like you said disposal of old batteries, manufacturing, etc all contribute to environmental harm in the end
It's always a matter of choosing the lesser evil if you think logically, but companies think with their wallets so they make and sell whatever get them the $$

On the other hand the Eviation aircraft is a gorgeous design and I wish it success. It is nice to find other ways to power things, for engineering and science's sake. This is my favorite "futuristic" looking plane so far. Never been a fan of the janky looking VTOL electric machines with 16 rotors that look like a helicopter caught in a spider web... I mean they're cool and all that but to much stuff going on, and if the wrong rotors hit a bird or something say goodbye to stability for the most part

The Eviation looks like it would be mostly stable even in the event of a loss of any of the engines or even two of them, just a solid aerodynamic design. And it's a taildragger! Bonus points (fellow GA pilots you'll understand ha ha)

a reply to: anzha

Looks like something from the old flash Gordon movies.

Not sure that battery that is half the aircrafts weight is the best way to go.
I wonder how that large battery got past FAA safety inspectors?

a reply to: anzha

I hope it glides well. Fuses blow.
And maybe one day, they can adopt solar panels in the wings, until then, charge it up by the power plant feed.

a reply to: panoz77

Hey, hey, hey chief!
That question is not allowed.

originally posted by: panoz77
What form of fuel charges the batteries?

In New Zealand, 80% of electricity is generated from renewables.

The government here in New Zealand recently undertook to end the use of carbon fuels by 2050. I don't know if that is achievable with current technology, but there is an undertaking to do so and we have already been making progress in that direction.

Renewable energy in New Zealand
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The beginning of the end for fossil fuels in New Zealand

New Zealand unveils ambitious carbon neutral plan: end of fossil fuel powered cars and 15% less cows

EECA’s roadmap to get businesses off fossil fuels

There are similar moves by other countries towards the replacement of fossil fuels with renewable energies. so it does appear to be doable.

By the way, the aircraft is beautiful!

a reply to: LABTECH767

I think the progress made is the extent of Fossil Fuels used.

Before, you used fossil fuels to fuel up on a finite supply of fossil fuels, etc.

Here, a process is cut among contrinuting fossil fuel processes.

The less, the better, in other words, baby steps.

Iike you said in your post, slowly transition to greener charging sources.

a reply to: Arnie123

Electric isn't currently "greener" than fossil fuels, certainly not in the United States. Mining rare earth metals, building, recycling and disposing of batteries is also not "green". Call me when we figure out free energy and I'll be on-board.

I'm also wondering how many days it takes to charge that bird?

What's the payload, despite batteries?

Don't get me wrong, I love EV as much as my fuel guzzling inline 6... But being honest to myself both are equal #ty for the environment. These planes make no difference.

I just like EV for the most brutal acceleration.

I’d hate to have a wing tip “motor out” on that thing!
Doesn’t look like it has enough rudder to compensate, holy cow! Who’s the engineers? Or did they do it for looks. Scary.

Edit: I like how the tail wheel will kick up rocks and debris into that rear prop.

Unless they can recycle the batteries and create new ones its the same old problem we have with fuels.We need look at our resources as circular instead of linear.Nice looking plane

a reply to: anzha

There are new battery techs coming soon. These will make electric aircraft used for short range much more attractive.

Many battery techs have been suppressed by big oil.

P

a reply to: 38181

I was surprised they went with conventional gear instead of tricycle with that engine layout.

newatlas.com...

a reply to: anzha
Now that looks a lot nicer..