Socata E-Fan two seat trainer
 

I actually think this electric could be a good idea, whereas there are Skyhawk conversions and the like I did not think as highly of. For the kind of range, performance and payload needs of a 2 seat trainer electric is not a bad way to power it. I tend to wonder if it can do 250nm student cross countries though, we'll see about that when the time comes.
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Daher-Socata To Build and Certify E-Fan for Airbus

(S.Pope, Flying, 12/11/14) Daher-Socata today announced it has signed on as a major partner with Airbus Group's VoltAir subsidiary for the design, development and certification of a new electric airplane unveiled earlier this year called the E-Fan 2.0. The all-electric two-seater is the first product in what is being billed as a full-scale electric aircraft development program, launched by Airbus Group with great fanfare earlier in the year. The E-Fan 2.0 is intended to be a general aviation trainer, and the first full-rate production electric aircraft in the world. One of the stated goals of the program is eventually to usher in an era of electrical applications for future Airbus airliners.

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/l...ps58dea09b.jpg

http://insideevs.com/wp-content/uplo...10-750x484.jpg

I thought this was a very cool airplane; the artist's rendering above not so much. Just like the auto industry, the difference between a sexy prototype and the production model can be very disappointing.

(photo credit: insideevs.com)

No mention of cost?

It'll be interesting to see how the aircraft holds up in IMC. I wonder how the e-fans perform in cold wet clouds.

Well it looks like it has an excellent glide range if nothing else. When you can glide dozens of miles it opens up some alternatives not open to piston trainers. They could be thinking of it more as a motor glider in that case. You would never ice certify an airplane like this anyway, so it would not be able to handle any ice loads. Cost will probably be fairly steep and amortized over a longer period than with piston trainers. Same as with electric cars, they front load the deal and you have to run it for so many years to break even. You hope the batteries do not lose their amp hour performance by the time the fuel savings balances out.