Eviation is an Israeli aircraft manufacturer that a few years ago expressed the ambition to become the Tesla of aviation. Now I can say very faintly: do you know how many bugs and teething problems the average Tesla still has, even after all these years? But I’ll leave that out.
First electric flight
Eviation has been working hard for a few years now as a developer and builder of electrically powered aircraft. Of the first model, the Alice, 12 have already been ordered by parcel delivery company DHL. This week Alice made her first test flight, which was a success. It was also the passenger (9-seater) version of the aircraft. Of course, the manufacturer of that first test flight made a nice video
The two electric motors of the Alice each provide approximately 640 kW of power. More than enough to make the 8-tonne aircraft, when fully ‘filled’ with passengers and cargo, whiz through the air at 260 knots.
The test flight lasted a total of about eight minutes, during which the aircraft flew at an altitude of 3500 feet (about 1100 meters).