4 ms·

The article makes it sound like it is made from commoditised components of today. Given how similar it sounds to that of a Tesla Model S + SpaceX - Battery, El

The article makes it sound like it is made from commoditised components of today. Given how similar it sounds to that of a Tesla Model S + SpaceX - Battery, Electric motor, propeller and such, Why wouldn't Tesla attempt such a thing based on components they already build for Tesla or SpaceX?

woah 8y ago
Why doesn’t Tesla make flashlights too?
Beltiras 8y ago
While on Joe Rogan's podcast Elon Musk did say he had the design for a VTOL electric plane that regained the energy used for lift on descent. I was a little bit more than intrigued by that.
- captainperl 8y ago
  Airplanes always get most of the energy from ascent back in descent. VTOL will get less back because it's grossly inefficient. Note that drag needs to be deducted from the potential energy. There's parasitic and induced drag.
  - Beltiras 8y ago
    His context was that the energy was returned to the battery, not in the laws-of-thermodynamics sense.
  - lmm 8y ago
    > Airplanes always get most of the energy from ascent back in descent. Given that the aeroplane ends up stopped on the tarmac at (approximately) sea level with (approximately) empty tanks, how so? A bit of heat I suppose but that's not usable. I'd say current aeroplanes generally deliberately dump energy to the environment (via deliberately increased drag, spoilers etc.) during descent, no?
    - DennisP 8y ago
      They're not recharging batteries but they are extending range. The whole time they're descending, they're moving forward and overcoming air resistance, without needing as much fuel as if they were flying level the same distance and altitudes. I think that compared to energy expenditure X in level flight at cruising altitude, the aircraft would expend X+Y in the climb and a little less than X-Y in the descent, assuming all horizontal distances are the same. To the extent that they deliberately increase drag, that wouldn't hold true, but I'm guessing that's mostly on final approach.
- skykooler 8y ago
  What, so he was serious in Iron Man 2?
briandear 8y ago
Tesla should focus on building cars first. They have enough supply chain issues that getting into the general aviation market would be spreading far too thin.

woah 8y ago

Why doesn’t Tesla make flashlights too?

Beltiras 8y ago

While on Joe Rogan's podcast Elon Musk did say he had the design for a VTOL electric plane that regained the energy used for lift on descent. I was a little bit more than intrigued by that.

captainperl 8y ago
Airplanes always get most of the energy from ascent back in descent. VTOL will get less back because it's grossly inefficient. Note that drag needs to be deducted from the potential energy. There's parasitic and induced drag.
- Beltiras 8y ago
  His context was that the energy was returned to the battery, not in the laws-of-thermodynamics sense.
- lmm 8y ago
  > Airplanes always get most of the energy from ascent back in descent. Given that the aeroplane ends up stopped on the tarmac at (approximately) sea level with (approximately) empty tanks, how so? A bit of heat I suppose but that's not usable. I'd say current aeroplanes generally deliberately dump energy to the environment (via deliberately increased drag, spoilers etc.) during descent, no?
  - DennisP 8y ago
    They're not recharging batteries but they are extending range. The whole time they're descending, they're moving forward and overcoming air resistance, without needing as much fuel as if they were flying level the same distance and altitudes. I think that compared to energy expenditure X in level flight at cruising altitude, the aircraft would expend X+Y in the climb and a little less than X-Y in the descent, assuming all horizontal distances are the same. To the extent that they deliberately increase drag, that wouldn't hold true, but I'm guessing that's mostly on final approach.
skykooler 8y ago
What, so he was serious in Iron Man 2?

briandear 8y ago

Tesla should focus on building cars first. They have enough supply chain issues that getting into the general aviation market would be spreading far too thin.