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Engines are complicated and the maintenance and certification requirements on such a complex system in the context of aviation is very expensive. Airplane engin

Engines are complicated and the maintenance and certification requirements on such a complex system in the context of aviation is very expensive. Airplane engines must be rebuilt at set time intervals even if they’re working perfectly because of what is at stake if they fail. Electric motors are vastly simpler devices with far less moving parts. Much less to go wrong, much less to inspect and replace. These are savings even before you get to talk about energy efficiency. These savings aren’t realized in the car market because if the motor of a car fails, it is just an inconvenience. All that extra work doesn’t exist. These savings aren’t theoretical either —- there are smaller scale electric aircraft used for pilot training on the market already. An hour of time in a Cessna costs $150ish/hour, these new electric planes are boasting costs of around $30/hour.

tyingq 5y ago
"These savings aren’t theoretical either —- there are smaller scale electric aircraft used for pilot training on the market already. An hour of time in a Cessna costs $150ish/hour, these new electric planes are boasting costs of around $30/hour." That would be somewhat compelling proof, but you seem to be mixing "price offered to the renting flyer" and "cost incurred by the owner".
ericpauley 5y ago
This seems dubious. Even auxiliary costs of the average plane rental (hangar, insurance) can exceed that rate depending on utilization.
Zircom 5y ago
>These savings aren’t theoretical either —- there are smaller scale electric aircraft used for pilot training on the market already. An hour of time in a Cessna costs $150ish/hour, these new electric planes are boasting costs of around $30/hour. I'm curious, do the training hours on electric planes count towards normal ICE planes? I would assume at they very least they have different operating procedures if not outright handle differently.

tyingq 5y ago

"These savings aren’t theoretical either —- there are smaller scale electric aircraft used for pilot training on the market already. An hour of time in a Cessna costs $150ish/hour, these new electric planes are boasting costs of around $30/hour." That would be somewhat compelling proof, but you seem to be mixing "price offered to the renting flyer" and "cost incurred by the owner".

ericpauley 5y ago

This seems dubious. Even auxiliary costs of the average plane rental (hangar, insurance) can exceed that rate depending on utilization.

Zircom 5y ago

>These savings aren’t theoretical either —- there are smaller scale electric aircraft used for pilot training on the market already. An hour of time in a Cessna costs $150ish/hour, these new electric planes are boasting costs of around $30/hour. I'm curious, do the training hours on electric planes count towards normal ICE planes? I would assume at they very least they have different operating procedures if not outright handle differently.