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The world's first electric passenger plane is getting ready to fly. The Alice, an aircraft developed by Israeli company Eviation, underwent engine testing at Arlington Municipal Airport north of Seattle last week.
According to Eviation CEO Omer Bar-Yohay, Alice was just weeks away from her first flight. With battery technology similar to that of an electric car or cell phone and 30 minutes of charging, the nine-passenger plane will be able to fly for one hour, a distance of about 440 nautical miles.
The aircraft has a Max cruising speed of 250 kts, or 287 miles per hour. For reference, the Boeing 737 has a Max cruising speed of 588 miles per hour.
The company, which focuses exclusively on electric air travel, hopes that electric planes that can carry 20 to 40 passengers will become a reality in the next seven to 10 years.
The aircraft prototype, which debuted in 2019, has been undergoing low-speed taxi tests since December 2021 and will attempt high-speed taxi tests in the next few weeks.
In these tests, the aircraft is sent down the runway at different speeds to test its own strength and allow ground teams to monitor systems such as steering, braking and anti-skid.
The company had originally targeted the Alice to fly before 2022, but adverse weather conditions in the Pacific Northwest late in the year prevented testing.
Eviation has developed three prototype versions namely: a commuter variant, an executive version, and one specializing in cargo. The commuter configuration in test accommodates nine passengers and two pilots, as well as 850 pounds of cargo.
The executive design has six passenger seats for wider flights, and the cargo plane accommodates 450 cubic feet of volume.
"All of this is possible while reducing commercial jet maintenance and operating costs by up to 70%," said Eviation.
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