5 ms·

There is precedent, sorta, in aviation: 100LL hit $4.50 a couple years back and is now between $5-$8. Cessna started developing an electric 172 in 2010: http:/

by crikli 15y ago

There is precedent, sorta, in aviation: 100LL hit $4.50 a couple years back and is now between $5-$8. Cessna started developing an electric 172 in 2010: http://green.autoblog.com/2010/08/11/cessna-developing-electric-powered-172-skyhawk/ http://green.autoblog.com/2010/08/11/cessna-developing-elect... I say "sorta" because it's not an industry-wide movement.

untog 15y ago
There's a sorta precedent in countries other than the US. Gas in the UK costs at least $9 per gallon, and there hasn't been a huge shift to electric cars: http://www.roadtransport.com/blogs/road-freight-industry-announcements/2011/06/survey-reveals-low-penetration-of-electric-and-hybrid-vehicles-into-small-medium-uk-companies.html http://www.roadtransport.com/blogs/road-freight-industry-ann... (that link is for businesses only, but if anyone had an incentive...)
- to3m 15y ago
  It's more like $8.15-$8.30. I've heard various outlandish figures quoted, but in fact $8.15-$8.30 is a better approximation. I bought some normal unleaded petrol on Monday from Texaco, and it was £1.34/L. 1.34 (British pounds per litre) = 8.28686449 U.S. dollars per US gallon. Perhaps if you visit a Texaco in the middle of nowhere, or a petrol station in central London, and you buy some 99 RON super unleaded, you could make it to $9/gal(US). Maybe diesel briefly touched $9/gal(US) earlier this year. It's possible. That's definitely the upper end of the price range, though! ...well, so far.
kragen 15y ago
I think the energy economics are different for planes and cars, though. There's no equivalent of regenerative braking, or for that matter stop-and-go traffic, for planes. And adding weight to a car doesn't make it use more energy at high speeds, which is how an old van can get 15 miles per gallon while a fully loaded semi truck gets 10 miles per gallon. Adding weight to a plane does make it use more energy. The effect of adding weight is relevant because batteries weigh almost 500 times as much per joule as fuel does.
- beej71 15y ago
  > There's no equivalent of regenerative braking Point the nose down with the power off?
  - ratsbane 15y ago
    Nose up to slow down: altitude = stored energy
    - kragen 15y ago
      Right, but you don't need an electric airplane to do that. With cars, electric is much more efficient for stop-and-go driving because regenerative braking becomes possible.
rdl 15y ago
I'd rather go with a diesel engine for small craft, and turboprop or turbofans for bigger/faster stuff. Jet a is widely available and cheap. Isn't 100LL twice that in Europe?

by crikli 15y ago

untog 15y ago

There's a sorta precedent in countries other than the US. Gas in the UK costs at least $9 per gallon, and there hasn't been a huge shift to electric cars: http://www.roadtransport.com/blogs/road-freight-industry-announcements/2011/06/survey-reveals-low-penetration-of-electric-and-hybrid-vehicles-into-small-medium-uk-companies.html http://www.roadtransport.com/blogs/road-freight-industry-ann... (that link is for businesses only, but if anyone had an incentive...)

to3m 15y ago
It's more like $8.15-$8.30. I've heard various outlandish figures quoted, but in fact $8.15-$8.30 is a better approximation. I bought some normal unleaded petrol on Monday from Texaco, and it was £1.34/L. 1.34 (British pounds per litre) = 8.28686449 U.S. dollars per US gallon. Perhaps if you visit a Texaco in the middle of nowhere, or a petrol station in central London, and you buy some 99 RON super unleaded, you could make it to $9/gal(US). Maybe diesel briefly touched $9/gal(US) earlier this year. It's possible. That's definitely the upper end of the price range, though! ...well, so far.

kragen 15y ago

I think the energy economics are different for planes and cars, though. There's no equivalent of regenerative braking, or for that matter stop-and-go traffic, for planes. And adding weight to a car doesn't make it use more energy at high speeds, which is how an old van can get 15 miles per gallon while a fully loaded semi truck gets 10 miles per gallon. Adding weight to a plane does make it use more energy. The effect of adding weight is relevant because batteries weigh almost 500 times as much per joule as fuel does.

beej71 15y ago
> There's no equivalent of regenerative braking Point the nose down with the power off?
- ratsbane 15y ago
  Nose up to slow down: altitude = stored energy
  - kragen 15y ago
    Right, but you don't need an electric airplane to do that. With cars, electric is much more efficient for stop-and-go driving because regenerative braking becomes possible.

rdl 15y ago

I'd rather go with a diesel engine for small craft, and turboprop or turbofans for bigger/faster stuff. Jet a is widely available and cheap. Isn't 100LL twice that in Europe?