Electric Aircraft

In the new IDTechEx report, "Manned Electric Aircraft 2020-2030" the analyst praises manufacturers such as Bye Aerospace for "walking before they try to run". Like Tesla with cars, they started with two-seater pure-electric vehicles and progressed to four - in this case, fixed-wing aircraft. Sales of these as air taxis and pilot trainers are booming with Bye alone attracting $165 million in business in about one year.

It is easy to say that, although small electric aircraft are at last selling, they are a negligible part of the overall aircraft market. Mistake. They will work up from the bottom to be mainstream. Airbus, Boeing and Rolls Royce know this, but many others are sleeping through the future. Some of the successes are from small companies.

Expect seven-times the air traffic in 2050 increasing greenhouse gas X4 unless something radical happens. Elon Musk has made interesting statements about electric aircraft over the years. His Tesla will survive and prosper: if Tesla investors stop investing the Chinese will snap it up. Either way, somewhere down its list of priorities will be reinventing pure electric aircraft, so what does Tesla bring to the table?

Not long ago it was just dreams. Small internal-combustion aircraft provide taxi services, serve the declining market for private flying and a few other needs. Some are over 30 years old because total cost of ownership is an issue. Designing electric replacements seemed like entering a dust bowl.

In IDTechEx Research's latest report Additive Manufacturing and Lightweight Materials for Aerospace and Defense 2018-2028, the focus is on advanced lightweight materials and the rise of additive manufacturing.

IDTechEx will be hosting a free webinar on Thursday 24 May titled Robots and drones: How everything is changing.

Dr Peter Harrop, IDTechEx Chairman interviews George Bye, CEO of Sun Flyer at the IDTechEx Show! USA 2017.

Terrafugia's mission is to create practical flying cars that enable a new dimension of personal freedom. Terrafugia (ter-ra-FOO-jee-ah) is derived from the Latin for "Escape the Earth".

IDTechEx will be hosting a free webinar on Thursday 8 February titled Manned Electric Aircraft 2018-2028.

Nothing lasts forever: things wear out. However, there is a huge pent up demand for "perpetual" autonomous drones for everything from security to surveying, meteorology and even power generation.