Eviation, based in Israel, has announced they will work with Kokam, a South Korean company, to supply batteries for their all-electric aircraft design, called Alice. Kokam also supplied the custom batteries used by Solar Impulse 2 in their record-setting global flight. The Alice commuter airplane is designed to carry nine passengers up to 650 miles at 240 knots, according to the company. Eviation showed a mock-up of it last month at the Singapore Air Show. It’s scheduled to fly before the end of this year and enter service by 2021, according to the company, with a market price of about $2 million.
Kokam says its batteries feature a compact design and an industry-leading energy density of 260 Watt-hours per kilogram, and are also light and safe enough for aviation use. This will be the company’s first product for a regional commuter aircraft. Zunum Aero, of Seattle, also is working on an electric-powered commuter plane that would seat up to 12. Zunum says its airplane will be ready for first flight next year and first deliveries in 2022. That project has funding from Boeing’s HorizonX investment team. Airbus also is working on an electric-powered regional airliner, the E-Fan X.
