Electric aircraft in the near future? I don't think so.

[bevy121]

If the battery is self charging in theory it could stay up indefinitely.

You are joking, aren't you

[wainuitech]

You are joking, aren't you

Nope, think about it, if its always got power apart from the humans on board it could be powered for a unlimited time. Look at the space station that doesn't have to come back to earth to be "recharged" or weekly space flights to take more fuel.

[bevy121]

I thought you were smarter than that - as Kenj said, do you think they can do perpetual motion now?

As for the space station...

The 75 to 90 kilowatts of power needed by the ISS is supplied by an acre of solar panels. Eight miles of wire connects the electrical power system. Altogether, the four sets of arrays are capable of generating 84 to 120 kilowatts of electricity – enough to provide power more than 40 homes on Earth.


https://www.edn.com/international-sp...-power-system/

[wainuitech]

I thought you were smarter than that - as Kenj said, do you think they can do perpetual motion now?

if your going to start throwing insults thats fine, But READ THE TITLE -- IN THE NEAR FUTURE. ( Define the exact time - NEAR) Cars can already self charge (neighbours does) so why cant Planes IN THE FUTURE. Can you actually see the future ? No -- didn't think so.

As for generating power by air flow they do ALREADY do it in a small scale in an emergency. They are called Ram Air Turbine's.

[zqwerty]

watt-hours per kilogram of fuel vs batteries tells the whole story, electric vehicles will also have problems with distance travel because of this fact.

[dugimodo]

Sorry Wainui, just give up on this one. The space station has no friction and needs no power to stay in orbit. Planes have to overcome air friction and maintain lift which takes power. The power generators you mention are using forward motion to generate power, the forward motion comes from the engines so the generators are just taking some of the engine power in a round about way. Kill the engines and the best you can do is glide for a short while, the generators just keep the systems running they can't keep the plane in the air. "Self charging" cars are also just recovering energy provided by the petrol engine which might otherwise be wasted, they make the car more efficient but it's still petrol powered.

To put it another way, power has to come from somewhere and using your forward motion to generate it just increases drag a little and leeches off the main engines.

It's kinda like the old cartoons where a character moves a sailboat by blowing on the sail, funny but impossible.

You are literally describing perpetual motion which violates the law of conservation of energy.

Edit: Also, Hydrogen might end up being the solution for planes and long haul transport. Not likely for cars though unless someone cracks the production of it cheaply enough.

[bevy121]

I'm sorry you thought it was an insult - it was certainly not intended as one
I was quite surprised you actually thought that was possible at all... now OR in the near future
As for the statement
"Cars can already self charge (neighbours does)"
you obviously don't know what that actually means..
Self charging cars are hybrids that can't be plugged in to charge(which is more a disadvantage than an advantage)
they are charged by the internal combustion engine (using petrol) and also a little bit when braking ( the braking energy is used to drive a generator)

Ask your neighbor how much it costs him for fuel to run the motor to charge the battery - and in these cars, the battery capacity is far less than a plugin hybrid - so much shorter distance before you have to run the petrol motor to charge again

[wainuitech]

Sorry Wainui, just give up on this one. .

No Friggin way. To many short sited gits self proclaimed experts on everything here. I was only using the space station as an example of self power, it generates some but not all power from the sun using solar panels.

The cars, they CAN already self charge, the neighbour has one, he's NEVER charged it from a power station or House, the engine does it along with other design features, as described:

Most hybrid (or self-charging hybrid) cars feature a petrol engine, an electric motor and a small battery pack. As you drive along, some power from the engine and kinetic energy recuperated from slowing down and braking is used to charge the battery pack – this is what leads some manufacturers to use the term 'self-charging. Then, as you accelerate, electricity from the batteries powers the electric motor and helps the car gain speed, making the petrol engine’s job easier and improving fuel economy.

When enough charge is in the battery pack, most hybrid vehicles can also pull away just using electricity and travel for a short distance at low speeds, using no fuel at all.

As for planes, Some DO have self power for hydraulics other major components if the engines stop working and by using Ram Air Turbine's, there's plenty of articles about their Usage.

So WHOSE to say IN THE FUTURE as per the title planes will be able to self charge the batteries by some other means ??

Unless someone can actually see the future ( and prove it) they are only going by what's available now. Things are developing all the time so unless a person has a closed mind (as some here do) then who knows what will come.

[dugimodo]

I explained why the self charging can't power the vehicle. You can't do forward motion = power generation = power for the motor = forward motion. That's perpetual motion and it's impossible. Every step has losses and always will, nothing can be 100% efficient. And even if it worked all you could do is maintain speed if there was 0 friction which only happens in space where your generators wouldn't work, they need air.

Your neighbours car is only stealing motive power provided by the engine to charge the battery, you have to have an external power source, the engine in this case.

I'm not an expert but this one is simple physics and about as likely as those youtube scammers trying to convince us a 500W generator connected to a 300W motor gives us 200W of free energy just by strapping some extra magnets on. You have to input power to get power, your plane needs a source of power that is not it's own momentum.

[bevy121]

Wow!