The Bye Aerospace eFlyer. Source: OSM Aviation
Simon Hackett is not just Australia’s foremost enthusiast in electric cars. The man who took delivery of the first Teslas in Australia – both the roadster and the Model S – is also one of the first adopters of electric planes.
Hackett owns one of just two electric planes in Australia. In fact, it is an electric glider, and uses a battery to drive the single propellor to take the glider up to 8,000 feet, and can also add a boost if needed during the trip, or in landing.
Batteries make a lot of sense for planes, Hackett says, and it may not be long before many of us are flying in them for regional routes, and even big international aircraft might be using batteries for an electric take-off, before the conventional get engines take over once the planes move beyond population centres.
So, less pollution and less noise. You can listed to the podcast below and also check out the video of the electric glider further down.
You can discover other episodes of The Driven Podcast here, and on your favourite podcast platform.
Giles Parkinson is founder and editor of The Driven, and also edits and founded the Renew Economy and One Step Off The Grid web sites. He has been a journalist for nearly 40 years, is a former business and deputy editor of the Australian Financial Review, and owns a Tesla Model 3.
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