The world's single most important aerospace event, the Paris Air Show, took place this past week, running from June 17 through June 23, 2019. During the event, buyers placed orders for more than 400 fossil fuel-powered aircraft valued at around $15 billion, as airlines continue to bolster their fleets.
However, an unanticipated newcomer seemed to make a particular impression on the industry professionals in attendance. Israeli start-up company Eviation told attendees that U.S. regional airline Cape Air is set to purchase a "double-digit" number of its cutting-edge, all-electric aircraft-making them the world's first commercial electric airplanes.
Massachusetts-based Cape Air is one of the largest regional airlines operating in the U.S., serving around half a million passengers annually with short-range flights in various areas of the American Northeast and Midwest and in the Caribbean.
Called "Alice," the aircraft is a nine-passenger, commuter plane designed to make short-range flights of up to 650 miles at around 240 knots (276 miles per hour) and a cruising altitude of 10,000 feet. The visually striking prototype of this $4-million, all-electric aircraft was also on display at the Paris Air Show.
Israeli startup Eviation unveils an electric plane able to take nine people over 600 hundred miles on a single charge at the #ParisAirShowpic.twitter.com/OTXIpWGihg
- Reuters Top News (@Reuters) June 18, 2019
The prototype carries a 900-kilowatt lithium-ion battery (about nine times bigger than Tesla's largest automotive battery). It is sustainable, low-noise and emission-free and promises to save big bucks when it comes to the cost of fuel.
Most of Eviation's funding is from Clermont Group, the private investment fund of Singapore-based billionaire Richard Chandler, who holds a 70 percent stake in the company and also owns and finances magniX-the firm that manufactures Alice's electric motors.
According to a report from Quartz, Omer Bar-Yohay, the company's chief executive, stated that Alice would next be transferred to Arizona in the U.S. to be flight-tested before being put forward for certification with the Federal Aviation Administration.
CNBC News reported Bar-Yohay told a press conference Tuesday that he expected to receive certification by late 2021, with deliveries predicted for 2022.
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