Cessna, Bye Energy commit to electric Cessna 172.

[Ed note: so far, this thread has focused solely on biofuels for GA because they are certain to arrive at some point as 100LL avgas becomes obsolete. However, there seems to be a serious attempt to bring a Cessna Skyhawk equipped with batteries and an electric motor to the market. As long as the effort appears to be vigorous, I will cover news on that as well. It only has a range of about 90 minutes on a charge, but what the heck. Maybe they should just dump the electric bit and make it into a biofuel-powered turboprop.]

(ePilot, 11/12) "At a press conference at AOPA Aviation Summit, Cessna and Bye Energy announced significant progress on a joint project to retrofit Cessna 172s with 210-horsepower electric powerplants. Though it’s being called a technology demonstrator, the two companies sounded very much committed to bringing their “Green Flight Project” airplane to the market. For example, the first demonstrator’s schedule has the airplane making its first flight in the spring of 2011. The airplane will be powered by an electric motor manufactured by Bye Energy, and an optional, 40-hp Jet A-powered auxiliary power unit. The first airplane will have a two-blade composite propeller, but plans are to make a switch to a six-blade propeller on the first supplemental type certificated variants. Charles Johnson, COO of Bye Energy, said that the first electric Cessna 172s would match the performance of conventional, piston-powered 172s, and that its weight and balance profiles would not change “one bit.” He also said that gross weight would be the “same or lower” than a conventional Skyhawk. Of particular interest is the fact that the electric motor will not fall off with altitude—because it does not require air to generate power..."