I remember watching in amazement at the online feed from Solar Impulse, the extraordinary plane powered only by the solar energy captured on the modules in its wings, as it cross the Pacific Ocean back in 2015, using the charge from the battery to stay in the air as it awaited the next sun rise.
André Borschberg was a co-pilot, with Bertrand Picard, on that historic round the world flight, and has now set up his own company H55, with some of the Solar Impulse team members. H55, named after the hangar they set themselves up in, specialises in electric propulsion systems, has a two-seater electric plane used for flight training, and is convinced that the future of flight is electric.
How and why? Borschberg joins The Driven podcast to explain the value of intra-city flights, vertical take off aircraft, and the shift to electric power in larger passenger planes.
You can discover other episodes of The Driven Podcast here, and on your favourite podcast platform. You can also catch up with Nigel and Giles on their regular Solar Insiders podcasts that you can find here.
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.