Aviation News: 500nm Range Electric Aircraft Design Unveiled.

[News]

Denver Colorado April, 23,2021/ SCUDRUNNERS NEWS/ In a press release

BYE Aerospace of Denver Colorado unveiled their latest electric aircraft design. The announcement shows an 8 passenger all electric twin engine aircraft capable of 500nm range. The design dubbed the “eFlyer 800” is said to be capable of reaching speeds up to 320 Knots and a service ceiling of 35,000 feet. Normal cruise speed listed as 280 knots with 500 nautical miles range and 45 minute IFR reserve.

“The eFlyer 800 is the first all-electric propulsion technology airplane that achieves twin-turboprop performance and safety with no CO2 and extremely low operating costs,” said George E. Bye, Bye Aerospace CEO. “This type of remarkable economy and performance is made possible by the electric propulsion system and advanced battery cell technology that results in significantly higher energy densities.”

Bye Aerospace and Safran are currently assessing the most efficient electric powertrain for the eFlyer 800 (dual ENGINeUS electric motors and GENeUSGRID electric distribution and network protection system). “Safran product lines with the ENGINeUS motors, rated from 50kW to 500kW/1MW and GENeUSGRID systems, perfectly fit with the Bye Aerospace portfolio of e-aircraft,” said Hervé Blanc, Executive Vice President and General Manager Power with Safran Electrical & Power. “Building upon our successful cooperation on eFlyer2 and eFlyer4, we are very proud to bring our best expertise to support Bye Aerospace in the design of the new eFlyer 800.”   From the press release its hard to tell exactly how BYE Aerospace will achieve these numbers while hauling 7 passenger and a Pilot. Currently the only electric commercial aircraft is being tested with Harbour Air of Vancouver BC operating short 20 minute flights.


Italian aircraft manufacturer Tecnam announced in October their own design plans for an all electric design “P-Volt” which is targeted for 2026 first flight.

Both aircraft if they achieve their stated numbers will mark significant milestones for electric aircraft and be a game changer for short haul aviation. I remain skeptical of the numbers and capabilities touted by the manufacturers of these aircraft, however, I hope they are successful and would love to take one for a rip.

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[Scudrunner]

https://www.news.scudrunners.com/500nm- ... -unveiled/

[David MacRay]

Let’s quietly buy one. Unless you want a Piper Arrow II instead. Let me know.

[Liquid_Charlie]

Dry and a little boring but this is the way the battery tech is going and aircraft are specifically mentioned.

[The Dread Pilot Roberts]

I would love to fly an all electric plane one day, the tech is getting better but it’s going to be very niche.

[Liquid_Charlie]

I was watching a you tube vid on a xamerica road trip in a Porsche and for the most part the cruising and trip planning was pretty straight forward but !! -- the charging was a shit show. Chargers not working, not charging at the desired rates and not able to get a satisfactory "hand shake" between car and charging unit.

Listening to the guy, who was very experienced with EV's this is the shit that people don't find out about and when they do they do not have the knowledge to deal with it nor do they understand what is going on.

Battery tech and simple plug and play is still not here yet with EV's -- In computer years they are still in the XT PC computer era of the 80's -

What happens to all these charging networks when the battery tech is changed, will they be compatible.

One of my main questions is when will ev owners start paying their way. The irony is that the fossil fuels is supporting the infrastructure. So be prepared for a massive cost increase of ev operation. It has to be a reality.

Same issues go for aircraft.

[cgzro]

So some back of the envelope calculations for fun.

1) They claim 2.5hrs (including reserve)

2) Let's guess about 250hp per side in cruise so 500hp total to maintain cruise?

3) PT6 uses about 300lb/hr at 500hp give or take. Not sure what two use at 250hp each and I'm too lazy to look it up but guess its also about 300lb/hr total?

4) 500hp is about 370kw/hr.

5) 370kw/hr i(using Tesla* numbers) requires about 5000lb/hr of battery.
* A Tesla modelX has about 1000lbs for 75kwh so do the math.
** much of the Tesla battery weight is protection against fire/structural integrity and equally important in a plane.

6) 2.5hrs therefore needs 5000 x 2.5 = 15,000lbs of Tesla battery.

That battery alone is 1.5x the MTOW of a Twin Otter which I suppose is a similar size to this aircraft.

Obviously we can play with these numbers to get lighter batteries, less power needed in cruise because its sleeker, lower weight with carbon fibre etc. but the numbers at the moment don't work without at least 4-5x reductions in some of these numbers. Batteries improve about 2x every 9 years....so looks like about 18 years till its viable although at least they seem to have thought of battery swapping with that big pod underneath, unlike the Beaver/Otter which will be a huge problem on floats at a dock.

No idea how accurate these numbers are, but its always better to do a bit of math than take media at face value.

[Scudrunner]

Interesting, I noticed on another thread think it was reddit about BYE Aerospace, in sum they have barely produced a 2 seat trainer that looks like a Lancair model something with a electric motor mounted to the front.

I mean good for them and such but check out their C suite of execs https://byeaerospace.com/about/

Looks like this scene from Wall Street:


go easy on the corporate jets eh Gordon

[Slick Goodlin]

Just a render for now but it’s certainly a handsome and modern looking airplane.