7 electric aircraft you could be flying in soon
Batteries vs jet fuel
"Electric batteries pack much less energy per unit of weight than jet fuel," says Bjorn Fehrm, an independent industry aviation expert at Leeham News. About 40 times less, even if we consider the best batteries available.
"Electric motors partly compensate this disadvantage by being more efficient in converting energy into power, but a huge gap remains."
The result is that aircraft would need to carry very heavy batteries in order to even approach the performance of current airliners. This option, quite literally, wouldn't fly.
Difficult doesn't mean impossible, though.
Major industry players, research organizations and entrepreneurs are working on several possible paths to make commercial electric flying a reality within a few years. Here are some of the most promising initiatives in the field:
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/electric-aircraft/index.html