World’s Largest Electric Commercial Aircraft Completes Its First Flight

The idea of electric propulsion is fast propagating to various fields of transportation. Even the aviation industry is fast catching up to this idea, in fact, the first flight of the world’s first commercial electric aeroplane took place back in December 2019. It was a small de Havilland DCH 2Beaver modified into an all-electric plane, called the eBeaver, by Seattle-based aviation electric motor company, magniX. Now the same company has joined hands with AeroTEC, an aviation testing and engineering company, also from Seattle, and successfully completed the first flight of what's touted to be the world’s largest commercial all-electric aeroplane, the eCaravan.

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It has been modified by AeroTEC from a stock Cessna Grand Caravan 208B, a nine-seater, single turboprop utility aircraft. The all-electric powertrain is from magniX. Called the magni500, this liquid-cooled electric powerplant is capable of generating 761PS of continuous power and a staggering 2,814Nm of continuous torque. The electric motor is claimed to be capable of delivering full torque output even at low rpms, unaffected by altitudes. The drive is direct to the propeller, so there is no need for any maintenance-prone reduction gearbox, which is usually the case with conventional turboprop engines. The motor has an efficiency rating of over 93 per cent and weighs 135kg.

The eCaravan took off for its maiden flight from the AeroTEC Flight Test Centre at the Grant County International Airport in Moses Lake, Washington, USA. The 30-minute flight at a 183kmph cruising speed marks a significant milestone in the field of electric aviation. That said, it is still quite some time away from production.

That’s because such a powerful motor commands the need for extremely high-capacity batteries. It needs a nominal voltage of 540V and the juice is said to have been supplied by a lithium-ion battery pack weighing about an insane two tonnes. The battery pack is so big that it basically occupied all the passenger space in the aircraft, leaving room only for the pilot. Nevertheless, it is still a considerable achievement for the short-distance air transportation industry as electric vehicles (including aircraft) are inherently a lot more affordable and easier to maintain compared to conventional ones.

Speaking about the historic flight, Roei Ganzarski, CEO of magniX, said, “This first flight of the eCaravan is yet another step on the road to operating these middle-mile aircraft at a fraction of the cost, with zero emissions, from and to smaller airports. These electric commercial aircraft will enable the offering of flying services of people and packages in a way previously not possible.”