E Fan Electric Aircraft Takes Its First Flight

Till date we have seen how electric vehicles have changed the way we think about cars. Every major car manufacture seems to have invested in EV development and they even have multiple offerings. Even supercar makers such as Ferrari, Bentley and Porsche offer hybrid vehicles that feature internal combustion engines and electric motors. But we have yet to see this technology being transferred in the aviation industry, however that is all about to change.

It has recently emerged that there is, in fact, a fully electric aircraft being developed, and it has already completed its maiden flight. At a small airport near Bordeaux in France, the E Fan took to the skies. The E Fan is the first ever fully electric airplane that has completed a flight.

The aircraft has been developed by Airbus and it measures just over 19 feet, and according to the scientists who develop it, the E Fan makes as much noise as a hair dryer. The E Fan has two electric propellers and uses 120 lithium-ion polymer batteries, and although the maiden flight lasted just 10 minutes, the E Fan will be able to fly for a maximum time of one hour. Airbus will develop two different version of the E Fan – the two-seater E-Fan 2.0 will be a fully electric training aircraft, while E Fan 4.0 will be used for both training and general flight purposes and will be powered by a hybrid system. In all possibility, this is just the beginning of electric aviation.