Hybrid and electric cars are just the first step in the electrification of everything that moves us. VoltAir, presented at last week’s Paris Air Show, is the next-generation electric airplane that may carry us between continents by 2035.
EADS (European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company N.V.), the company who designed the VoltAir, plans to equip it with a pair of lithium-ion (or whatever technology will mature by then) batteries, nested right in the nose of the plane. The aircraft will also feature counter-rotating propellers, for extra efficiency.
Another technology that for the moment is in its concept phase and testing and that will be featured in the VoltAir is superconductivity. The plane will have High-Temperature Superconducting materials on-board, which will reduce the wasted heat and will improve flight autonomy.
This video on Physorg’s website will give you a glimpse of how the VoltAir will look like and its components. Of course, many things will change by 2035, but the idea of electric airplanes will eventually prevail.
