First electric aerotow

On Tuesday, April 4, 2017 at 5:26:23 PM UTC-4, jfitch wrote:
On Tuesday, April 4, 2017 at 1:40:08 PM UTC-7, Andrew Ainslie wrote:
It's not hybrid, it's pure electric.

http://www.flyingmag.com/extra-unveils-electric-330le

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2016/12...airplane-ever/

Amazing little plane!!

Power in an electric plane was solved long ago. It's duration that needs work - they mention having 15 minutes duration. That means it could aerotow maybe 6 gliders (and I wouldn't want to be the sixth...), then have to get recharged. No mention of the recharge time.

In a previous life, I worked on AGVs (autonomous guided vehicles) which were powered by batteries. Instead of taking the vehicle out of service while recharging, we built a battery exchange station. The vehicle made the decision when it was time to go in for a new set based on remaining charge level and the task it had to finish. It would find the station, dock itself and within a few minutes, the old battery pack was replaced without human intervention. The vehicle then returned to its task.
If you want to make this plane economically viable as a tow plane and not have it sitting on the ground for any length of time to recharge, you must have a second or third set of batteries on the ground recharging and/or ready for a quick exchange.

Uli