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The real benefit really seems to be that the electric motors have a much smaller failure rates than mechanical ones running near their top rpm. The hybrid motor
by golem14 29d ago
The real benefit really seems to be that the electric motors have a much smaller failure rates than mechanical ones running near their top rpm. The hybrid motor can run at a much optimized RPM, so the idea is that this will improve the overall safety margin of the overall design. I could be wrong, but that's what the video said.
- dist-epoch 29d agoOne would assume that all combustion engines used in aviation run at an optimized RPM?
- FredFS456 29d agoAt cruise, yes. However during takeoff and go around they run at higher RPM to develop more thrust. Using batteries for takeoff and only using fuel for cruise or backup power is smart.
- golem14 29d agoI think it's even more than that. The hybrid engine has to run one single RPM to drive a generator, it can be vibration insulated, probably needs to be only smaller because it doesn't have to provide the high max power the conventional motors have etc. It's why I believe hybrid cars that use a gas motor only to charge the batteries are more reliable and more efficient.
- Tade0 29d agoRPM is one thing, but the other is that engines run more efficiently at altitude due to the temperatures being much lower there.
- chermi 29d agoSo basically like diesal-electric trains? My understanding that's almost certainly outdated was that the issue with electric planes was weight due to batteries, so added mass from a generator sounds bad.
- tempestn 28d agoHaving the generator as backup means you need a lot less battery though, so it saves weight overall.