The Energy Density Wall, Watt-Hours Per Kilogram, and the One Number Electric Aviation Has to Beat Before Any of It Works
Electric aviation lives or dies on one number: watt-hours per kilogram. Here's the energy wall it has to beat.
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REGENT, the Viceroy Seaglider, and the Wing-in-Ground-Effect Machine That Flies a Wingspan Off the Water to Cheat Both the Boat and the Airplane
Radio Hangar explores REGENT, the Viceroy Seaglider, and the Wing-in-Ground-Effect Machine That Flies a Wingspan Off the Water to Cheat Both the Boat and the Airplane.
VectorThe Pipistrel Velis Electro, the First Type-Certified Electric Airplane in the World, and What a Fifty-Minute Trainer From Slovenia Actually Proves
The Pipistrel Velis Electro is the world's first type-certified electric airplane - here's what its 50-minute range actually proves.
VectorJoby's S4, the Tilt-Six Propulsion System, and Why the Air Taxi Race Comes Down to How You Turn a Rotor Into a Wing
How Joby's S4 tilts six electric propellers from hover to cruise - and why that transition decides the air taxi race.
VectorREGENT's Viceroy Seaglider, Ground Effect, and the Electric Machine That Wants to Fly a Few Feet Over the Water Between the Boat and the Airplane
How REGENT's electric Viceroy seaglider uses ground effect to fly a few feet over water, replacing coastal ferries at 180 mph.
VectorThe Heart X1 Flies, the Twenty-Five-Thousand-Pound Demonstrator, and What the Largest Battery-Electric Airplane Ever Flown Actually Proves
Heart Aerospace's 25,000-pound Heart X1 became the largest battery-electric airplane ever flown - here's what it proves and what it doesn't.
TowerJoby Aviation, the S Four Tilt-Rotor, and Whether the Electric Air Taxi Can Actually Survive Contact With the Real World
Joby's S4 eVTOL is a real, flying aircraft - but battery physics, FAA certification, and pilot economics will decide if air taxis survive the real world.
VectorA Single-Seat eVTOL in Hyde County That Reached Two Emergency Patients Before the Ambulance Could
Hyde County, NC used a single-seat Pivotal BlackFly eVTOL on two live medical calls, once beating the ambulance by 20 minutes.
TowerBeta Technologies, the ALIA, and the Electric Aircraft Company That Decided to Build the Chargers Before the Airplanes
Why Beta Technologies built electric aircraft chargers before its ALIA airplanes were even certified - and why that bet may define electric aviation.
VectorVertical Aerospace Locks In One Hundred Million Dollars for Valo Certification, Battery Production, and a Hybrid-Electric Prototype
Vertical Aerospace raised $100 million to fund Valo eVTOL certification, in-house battery production, and a new hybrid-electric prototype.
TowerThe Pipistrel Velis Electro, the First Type-Certified Electric Airplane, and the Liquid-Cooled Battery That Made a Regulator Say Yes
How the Pipistrel Velis Electro became the first type-certified electric airplane - and why liquid-cooled batteries made EASA say yes.
VectorZeroAvia, Hydrogen-Electric Powertrains, and the Bet That Fuel Cells, Not Batteries, Will Electrify the Regional Airplane
ZeroAvia is betting hydrogen fuel cells, not batteries, will electrify regional aircraft - here's why the physics works and what still stands in the way.
VectorArcher Aviation's Midnight, the Twelve-Rotor Tilt eVTOL, and the Back-to-Back Hop Strategy That Bets Battery Physics Favors Short Trips
Archer's Midnight eVTOL bets that short back-to-back hops respect battery physics - here's whether the engineering holds up.
VectorBeta Technologies, Kyle Clark, and the Bet That the First Electric Airplane to Make Money Won't Take Off Straight Up
Beta Technologies is betting the first profitable electric airplane won't take off vertically - it'll roll down a runway and plug into a network Beta built itself.
VectorNASA's X-57 Maxwell, the Fourteen-Motor Electric Demonstrator That Never Left the Ground and Taught Us More by Failing Than Most Airplanes Do by Flying
NASA's X-57 Maxwell never flew, but its 14-motor electric design de-risked distributed propulsion for the entire eVTOL industry.
VectorJoby Aviation's S Four, the Tilt-Rotor Air Taxi, and the Long Grind From Flashy Demo to a Certificate the FAA Will Actually Sign
Joby's S4 eVTOL air taxi has flown the hard maneuvers, but the real hurdle is FAA certification of its batteries and software.
VectorREGENT's Viceroy Seaglider, the Twelve-Seat Electric Craft That Rides a Cushion of Its Own Air a Wingspan Above the Waves, and Why the Coast Guard, Not the FAA, Gets to Say Whether It Flies
REGENT's Viceroy seaglider is a 12-seat electric craft regulated by the Coast Guard, not the FAA - because it never leaves ground effect.
VectorZeroAvia, the Hydrogen Fuel Cell in a Dornier Two Twenty-Eight, and Why the Cleanest Battery on Earth Is a Tank Full of the Universe's Simplest Gas
ZeroAvia flew a hydrogen fuel cell Dornier 228 in 2023, proving clean regional flight is real - but tanks, fuel, and infrastructure remain hard.
VectorBeta Technologies' Alia, the Electric Airplane That Skipped the Hover, and the Interstate Charging Network Nobody Was Watching Get Built
Beta Technologies' Alia CX300 skips the hover for a runway takeoff, gaining range and building an East Coast electric-aircraft charging network.
VectorThe Pipistrel Velis Electro, the First Electric Airplane the Regulators Ever Signed Off On, and What Fifty Minutes of Battery Really Buys You
The Pipistrel Velis Electro is the first type-certified electric airplane, with ~50 minutes of flight and cheap operating costs for pattern training.
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