Discussion»Questions»Science and Technology» Do you think it ever may be possible to develop batteries small, light weight and powerful enough to fly planes through the air?
I read that there is an English guy at the moment that has developed a new lightweight battery made of alumimium....it's so good that it can powered a propell plane and small ships and heavy lorries ,buses and many other electric vehicles.... The big car manafactures are doing their upmost to stop it ......the guy use to work for British aerospace hopefully it will begin production later this year... The good thing about it is it's almost pollution free.....yet all battery manafactures are still against it as it will make their products worthless....
They can fly through clouds, they can fly through smoke....they can fly through mountain ranges in daylight...they can also fly the flag of their counrty of origin...do I need to go no......hehe
They can fly can fly around......they can fly past....they can fly up ....fly north ,south east or west....they can also fly about anywhere and even more so if they get lost....the can even be flying tonight...:)
They use electricity from batteries to power submarines through water but not aircraft, that is why I wanted to be clear that I meant 'through the air'.
Well I don't like to think about anybody getting hurt or killed but it might be hilarious if the plan hit the tower (nobody gets hurt) but Trump gets trapped for 2 weeks and the only food for him to survive on is broccoli. Cheers!
The energy density of batteries would have to improve by AT LEAST an order of magnitude (i.e. the same energy storage in 1/10th the weight of current batteries) for a battery-powered aircraft to be commercially viable (to haul cargo or people).
While I don't know exactly how the math works for aircraft, the current math for long-haul ground trucks is something like this:
80,000 lbs diesel truck = 600 lbs. of diesel fuel to go 500 miles
80,000 lbs electric truck = 20,000 lbs of batteries to go 500 miles.
The reason electric passengers cars have become somewhat practical is because they are super super efficient, so they can go about the same distance with the energy equivalent of 3 gallons of gasoline as a combustion engine car with 15 gallons of actual gasoline.
I don't know if similar efficiency gains are possible on aircraft.
Many years ago, I did a research paper on alternatives to liquid hydrocarbon fuels. They are nearly impossible to beat.
Imagine we didn't currently know about petrol, diesel, etc. Now imagine someone pitching a "magic elixir" where a mere teacup of it could push a 3,000-lbs vehicle over a mile. You'd think it was either miraculous or a scam.
Well, yes. Production cost, stability, ease of storage, ease of transport, relative toxicity, and other factors all play a role. And, in most cases, it's petrol and diesel which "win" on those counts.
Stu Spelling Bee 