This All-Electric Aircraft Just Took Its First Zero-Emission Flight
Eviation, a relatively unheard-of company in the aviation sector, has just achieved a major milestone. The Israeli company's all-electric passenger aircraft named Alice just conducted its first successful flight, soaring for about eight minutes. Touted to be the first electrified zero-mission commercial passenger aircraft of its kind, Alice hit an altitude of 3,500 feet before making a touchdown at the Grant County International Airport in Washington's Moses Lake area.
The standout element of the electric plane, aside from its promise of producing zero gaseous or vapor-based emissions, is that Alice also significantly tones down the noise pollution. Plus, Eviation claims that its operational costs per flight on an hourly basis are merely a fraction of what typical gas-guzzling airliners and jetliners put on the bill. The company has set lofty goals for itself, but Alice is not the first electric plane to complete a successful flight test.
Today, our all-electric Alice aircraft electrified the skies and embarked on an unforgettable world’s first flight. See Alice make history in the video clip below. We’re honored to celebrate this groundbreaking leap towards a more #sustainable future.#electricaviation pic.twitter.com/Q9dFoTPyiB
— Eviation Aircraft (@EviationAero) September 27, 2022
That honor goes to Harbour Air's De Havilland Beaver, a retrofitted seaplane with an all-electric drivetrain that completed the world's first successful flight of an all-electric commercial aircraft in 2019, and three years later, executed the first point-to-point flight in August 2022. Eviation, however, aims to become a commercial player that can deliver economical and sustainable regional flight services at scale in the near future.
A true gamechanger
Eviation is currently targeting short-range flights covering anywhere between 150 miles and 250 miles. Notably, the company has already bagged orders for 75 Alice units from Cape Air and 50 planes from Global Crossing Airlines. Cape Air, which currently operates over 400 flights each day, eventually aims to cover about 80 percent of its current flight volume with zero-emission Alice flights in the near future.
But it's not just regional passenger airline services that are interested in Eviation's offering. Even DHL Express has placed orders for 12 Alice aircraft to ferry cargo while also negating the carbon footprint. By 2050, DHL aims to achieve the net zero-emissions milestone. As for the all-electric plane itself, Alice is capable of reaching the 260 knots (approximately 300 miles per hour) pace. When it comes to the load capacity, the passenger version can lug 2,500 pounds, while the cargo version adds another 100 pounds to the aforementioned figure.
In a world where centimillionaires and billionaires like Elon Musk and Kylie Jenner take private jets for flights that last merely a few minutes while injecting tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, the likes of Alice just might prevent the burning of thousands of kilograms of jet fuel every day. Eviation also claims that its services will offer "access to airports not currently used by commercial flights due to noise concerns or restricted operating hours."