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?
A Swedish company is already developing small battery-powered aircraft, and I think may already have some in service. These are only suitable for short routes within the country - practical trans-oceanic versions are a very long way away, if attainable at all.
Battery-powered road vehicles are nothing new. Many manufacturers were producing both private cars and small commercial vehicles and buses powered by batteries, in Britain, the USA and probably other countries, in the 1900s! The batteries were of far lower energy density than the modern versions, and the motors less efficient; but they worked. They were of course supplanted by petrol (diesel came later) simply for greater range and power.
I have seen a model - I don't know if any full-size version was actually built as designed, or survives - of a very early, experimental, battery-driven railway locomotive. It consisted of one big battery on wheels, with the motor under the frame, and a driving platform at one end. The battery was a tank of electrolyte, and speed control was effected by a manual windlass arrangement that raised and lowered the plates in the fluid!
