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Re:World-record electric motor for aircraft by bpowah on Thursday April 16, 2015 @07:50PM (#9391470)
this article does a fair amount of discussion on advantages. Basically it is quiet, has no on-site emissions, and is theoretically more efficient. They also go on to mention that it loosens some design constraints. http://www.technologyreview.com/news/516576/once-a-joke-batt...
Re:World-record electric motor for aircraft by thrownaway2424 on Thursday April 16, 2015 @08:11PM (#9391559)
Those would be advantages of an all-electric aircraft, however this article is not about that. This article is about an electric motor that could be used in a series-hybrid aircraft, that is, one with a fixed-speed combustion engine and small battery or capacitor.
Re:World-record electric motor for aircraft by bpowah on Friday April 17, 2015 @10:38AM (#9394546)
The original article mentions hybrid but does not say the motors are exclusive to hybrid drives, merely that the motor will be flight tested in a series-hybrid DA36. Besides, the MIT article I linked enumerates the benefits of the hybrid drive. The word 'hybrid' is in the subtitle. I suspect Siemens is focusing on hybrid tech at the moment because battery tech is such a moving target and they want to use an existing airframe. Ultimately, I think all-electric aircraft will find their market in short-flight urban transport applications where noise, pollution, and reliability are huge factors.