Up in the air...in an all-electric plane

The electric Cri-Cri airplane was airborne Thursday – for all of seven minutes.

The 4-engine aircraft, from Airbus parent corporation EADS, is the first of its kind. Its maiden flight took place at Le Bourget airport near Paris.

The flight was smooth, the company said, and quiet. The plane has lithium batteries and four electric prop motors that don’t emit carbon dioxide like standard aircraft.

The Cri-Cri is made relatively lightweight to compensate for the weight of the batteries, the company said. The plane is capable of 30 minutes of cruising at about 68 mph.

Next up: Perhaps an all-electric helicopter from Sikorsky Innovations? The technology development section of Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., based in Connecticut, announced its “Project Firefly” effort in late July, with an initial flight expected later this year.

Aircraft produce up to 4% of the annual global carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels, according to NASA. But several airlines have recently said they intend to cut back on flight-related emissions, testing biofuels and developing more energy-efficient aircraft.

Several companies are also developing prototypes that use little or no fuel, relying instead on solar power, batteries, generators and natural buoyancy and gravity.

--Tiffany Hsu

Photo credit: EADS/Thomas Jullien

Comments

[Karl]

Early flights by the Wright Brothers in 1903 lasted less than a minute and garnered no media attention because they were not considered signficant events. This electric plane is also an experiment, and it will be interesting to see where it leads.

[Stu]

I don't really see the point of flying an electric plane like this. You can obviously make an electric prop plane that can go for a short time running off of batteries. That part's easy. The difficult part is making one large enough to carry people or cargo and having it fly for a few hours at a good speed. This aircraft is no more difficult than an electric RC plane. Taking a basic battery and making something spin isn't new. That's all this is.

[Gary]

You green whack jobs! Man is here to stay! I like carbon foot print!

[tomK]

This is the next step in the insanity that is the religion of man made global warming, soon we will all have to Pay a carbon tax to fly on a plane, with the money going to bureaucrats to squander as they please, most likely to pay for maintaining their private jets. FACT: Leonardo Decaprio drives a Prius to reduce his carbon footprint but also owns two jets and his own Island plus half a dozen sports cars with big engines. John Travolta has six jets, one is a 737, but he is deeply concerned about the environment. Arnold our beloved Governator, never saw a wacky Environmental law he didn't like, but he drives a Hummer, lives in a palace, and flies on the state's jet almost constantly. These people are hypocrites , plain and simple. And now we have an electric airplane, that seats one, goes 68 MPH, has NO useful load, and almost no range, still needs energy from another source, and contains several hundred pounds of toxic lithium in it's batteries.

[Gus Pennock]

It gives me anxiety just to think that you run out of battery juice in the middle of your flight. Hmm.. I'll stick to the gas engine for the meantime.

[My view means nothing.]

Until batteries are designed better and a way to dispose of them without polluting the environment is achieved, it's best not to claim "green airplane has arrived".

[Rick]

Hydroelectric, nuclear, solar, and geothermal all produce no carbon footprint.

[CaliHATER]

You carbon-harpies don't seem to realize that carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is necessary -- trees and all other plants die without it! And man does not have enough influence on this earth to change it one iota.

HOW STUPID YOU ARE ! !

[gurnemanz]

I think that's understood, David. But efficiencies of scale (in power generation) do come into play in the equation.

The next question, which EADS addressed, was whether or not existing batteries and motors could generate enough thrust to lift an adult for any significant period of sustained flight. Now there's a baseline.

[LA Observer]

ah, bring back the dirigibles.

[David]

Electric vehicles require power, which usually comes from fossil fuel power plants, which put out CO2. So an electric airplane is not without a carbon footprint.