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This Extra 330 is the fastest-climbing electric-powered airplane ever

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On November 25, a German-made electric-powered Extra aerobatic aircraft took off from Dinslaken, Germany and climbed from the ground to 9,842 ft (3,000m) in 4 minutes and 22 seconds. The Extra handily beat the previous electric aircraft 3,000m time-to-climb record of 5 minutes, 32 seconds set in 2014. Some analysts expect to see electric-powered passenger aircraft carrying up to 100 people on short-haul routes of up to 600 miles (965km) by 2030. (arstechnica.com) More...

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ravanviman
hal pushpak 4
To the naysayers: Lets not forget, Solar Impulse II can stay in the air indefinitely and hold an endurance record or two - and circled the planet in 2015 - 2016. It's best not be negative about technological development because one usually ends up with egg on the face. My series hybrid electric car two years ago could go 52 miles before the gas engine kicked in automatically. Now the same model updated, can do nearly twice that.There a long way to go yet in electrochemichal as well as solar cell technology. We're just scratching the surface..
liko2k
Jakub Bialek 4
Yes. The fuel cells technology becomes better and better with every year so maybe this will be a source of electricity that will power the future airliners.
ravanviman
hal pushpak 3
Indeed Jakub. In 1903 the Wright Flyer flew for 12 seconds and covered only 120 feet. There were a lot of naysayers back then too!
thecohorts
Matt LaMay 2
This is fast, but everytime I hear of time to climb records, I can only think of the F-15 "Streak Eagle" climbing to 10,000 feet in less than 26 seconds back in 1975.
tcmarks
Tim Marks 3
An experimental aircraft, with one 'passenger', that weighs less than 1000 pounds is the current example of technology. But predicting that electric power will be able to deliver 100 passengers 600 miles within the next 13 years is a stretch. An aircraft large enough to carry that number of people (without packing them in like sardines in a can) and after meeting airworthiness certifications for safety, will be closer to 100,000 pounds (at best). Batteries are still heavy and electric motors require inductive mass to operate efficiently. I am not seeing this kind of technology advancement to enable the thrust or endurance required to meet this prediction. Anyone have insight into new electric technologies that can even get close to this?
bentwing60
bentwing60 1
I agree that the schedule seems a tad presumptive, and even more telling , that while the performance is more than commendable, anybody else notice that this aircraft doesn't have the endurance to leave the pattern, except maybe straight up.

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