PIPISTREL'S ELECTRO VELIS

THE FUTURE IS HERE!

- GUY LEITCH , JASON BEAMISH.

We are thrilled to bring you the most significant flight test in the past twenty years: the first practical electric general aviation plane. Love them or hate them, electric planes are the future and now they are here.

FOR THE SCEPTICS, a battery powered plane is an unlikely proposition. Batteries have a terrible energy density compared to Avgas and they are expensive and heavy – and unlike Avgas, batteries don’t get lighter as they are used up.

Yet Elon Musk has now sold six million Teslas. So no matter how big a sceptic you may be – battery electric power is a reality. And nothing reflects this more than Textron, who make Continental and Lycoming fossil fuel burners, having bought Pipistrel for R3 billion in 2022.

PIPISTREL’S VELIS ELECTRO

Which brings us to the subject of our epoch making flight test – the Pipistrel Velis Electro.

Battery technology has been around for hundreds of years. I remember our milk being delivered by milk float carts with lead acid batteries. Now we have the next generation of batteries – with Lithium-ion cells. And there’s no doubt about it – they work in cars – with many having 500 km plus ranges.

But aeroplanes are not cars. Cars very seldom use more than 25% of their max power output. Planes on the other hand are often expected to run at 75% continuous power – and that flattens batteries fast.

So the big question to be asked is: Is the Velis Electro a practical plane?

Let’s cut straight to the key numbers. The basic Velis Electro is limited to a 600 kg MAUW – which gives it a payload of 378 pounds (172 kg) – which may seem light, but remember, it does not have to lift any fuel in that payload. Its maximum speed is 98 KTAS, it has a maximum endurance of 50 minutes, plus reserve, and can be recharged within one to two hours.