Dhe new electric airliner “Alice” looks a bit like a sleek business jet. But it is powered by two propellers located in the rear of the fuselage. The American-Israeli company Eviation Aircraft wanted to use two pusher propellers in the wingtips and a third in the tail for propulsion in 2019.
While it looked futuristic, it gave pilots nightmares. Because the propellers could have easily hit the ground due to the minimal ground clearance during gusty landing approaches. Even worse, if one of the engines on the outside of the wing failed, the aircraft would be immediately uncontrollable. This extreme asymmetry of the propulsion could no longer be compensated for by clear countersteering with the rudder, as in a conventional two-engine aircraft. So a new concept was chosen: Both electric motors are now in pylons at the rear of the fuselage and drive traction propellers. The machine remains controllable for the two pilots even after an engine failure.
In this configuration, “Alice” took off for the first time this week from Moses Lake Airport in the US state of Washington. The flight lasted almost ten minutes. Two 640-kilowatt or 870-hp Magni650 electric motors from MagniX drive the two propellers. Unlike other regional aircraft projects, whose aircraft manufacturers simply put an electric motor in place of the combustion engine in a tried-and-tested airframe, Eviation Aircraft designed its composite machine for an electric drive from the start. With a wingspan of around 19 meters and a length of 17.4 meters, it is therefore particularly designed for good aerodynamics.
According to the manufacturer, “Alice” should be able to fly a maximum of 800 kilometers at up to 450 kilometers per hour. In cargo flight operations, the distance should typically be around 400 kilometers. The regional airliner has nine passengers on board. “Alice” is said to be significantly quieter than an aircraft with a combustion engine, both for passengers and those living near the airport. If the electricity for charging is generated from renewable energies, “Alice” probably flies almost CO22-free.
With the currently rising electricity prices, are the operating costs actually the same as promised or cheaper than conventional two-engine engines? Only a possible line operation can show this in practice. However, the aviation approval as an electric aircraft by the American aviation authority FAA and later by the European Aviation Safety Agency EASA will probably not work before 2026. It is also significantly more complex than with conventional aircraft. Because “Alice” embodies new technical territory in many areas.
For example, when it comes to the question of how reliable and fail-safe electric motors are. Another novelty: how fire-protected are the energy storage devices during the flight? And how do you extinguish an electrically powered commercial aircraft in an emergency? An incident at Eviation itself shows that this point should not be underestimated, as in the automotive sector with electric vehicles: last year, for example, the first prototype burned down during tests in the hangar.