Plans for electric passenger aircraft have been on hold on account of insufficient battery capacity. That’s because they must not only be able to cruise safely through the air. They must also be able to thrust, and reverse-thrust when taking off and landing under maximum power. But it seems this paradigm could shift, with a viable electric airliner on the drawing board in China.
New Batteries Are Key to Viable Electric Airliners
AV Web promotes itself as the ‘world’s premier independent aviation news resource’. Therefore, we can take them as read when they speak of a joint venture between three major technology players in China. These are Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), Shanghai Jiaotong University, and battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd (CATL).
CATL has been working for a while on a solid state battery that stores up to 500 megawatt-hours per kilogram. This would have twice the capacity of any other battery of which we know, and could power a viable electric airliner. But there could be one exception to that rule. This would be the sulfur-selenium battery under investigation at NASA’s Glenn Research Center for electric-powered flight, because it also boasts 500 watt-hour density.
Timeline for the Chinese Electric Aircraft
Simple Flying published an update on July 23, 2023, summarizing what we know as follows:
- Commercial Aircraft Corporation, Shanghai Jiaotong University, and CATL have established a joint venture.
- Their goal is to develop a fixed-wing electric aircraft, focusing on available pre-research into electric flight.
- This may be an application for CATL’s solid-state battery, with single-cell energy density of up to 500 watt-hours.
However, we will not see a viable electric airliner made by China flying through the air any time soon. That’s because CATL’s new batteries are still at the conceptual stage, and a long way from reaching production. The new joint venture is also in early days too. None the less, this makes for an interesting story to share.
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