Europe built the world’s largest electric plane. It flew in New York
Heart Aerospace flew its X1 demonstrator at Plattsburgh International Airport on 12 August, the company announced. The aircraft taxied, took off, climbed, manoeuvred and landed.
It reached 335 metres, and its all-electric propulsion produced more than one megawatt.
The airframe explains the record. The X1 has a wingspan of about 32 metres, runs 23 metres nose to tail, and takes off at more than 11,300kg.
Plattsburgh serves a community of 20,000 people, which is the kind of place the finished aircraft is meant to fly to.
The number that will travel
The electricity for the flight cost roughly $5. Heart puts it at approximately $5, while Engadget reported the figure as less than $5.
Heart set that against the fuel it replaces. Jet fuel averaged $3.50 a gallon in the week ending 7 August, up 63% year on year.
That comparison is the point of the $5. Without it...
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