Musk is going to build an electric plane, which will be high-end and unique. Will this boast be blown out of proportion?

Elon Musk is a peculiar man and an outlier.

The outstanding feature of his "oddity" and "alternativeness" is that he is not content at all. After his boasts were successful one after another, he boasted again, that he would build an electric plane within ten years. Of course, this electric plane is not the drones that are flying all over the sky now, but a supersonic vertical take-off and landing electric plane that can fly on Mars.

He has successfully boasted that the sci-fi spacecraft has been successfully tested, the world-leading Tesla electric car has been manufactured, and the ongoing development of Martian soilless plant cultivation, Martian underground transportation, and Martian communications (Starlink) has also made continuous progress. He claims that all he has done is to prepare for humans to become a Martian species.

Because there is no oil on Mars, the only energy source is solar energy and nuclear energy, so everything on Mars will be related to electricity. So the cars, underground high-speed trains, photovoltaic power generation, etc. that are being developed now are all related to electricity.

But there are no electric vehicles that can fly on Mars, he said: "The theory that Tesla's products will appear on the road, in underground tunnels and even on Mars, but they will not be seen in the sky, does not convince us... (In the future) all transportation, including airplanes and ships, will be fully electric - not just semi-electric hybrid, but fully electric."

He stressed: "There is absolutely no problem with this."

Many people are puzzled. What's so strange about this? Haven't electric airplanes been around for a long time?

Indeed, electric airplanes have existed for a long time. Most of today's drones are electric, and the Perseverance Mars rover launched by NASA also brought a small helicopter. This helicopter is called "Intelligence", which uses electricity and has successfully flown in the thin atmosphere of Mars.

Some countries in the world have also developed electric aircraft with longer flight time. For example, the Alpha electric light two-seater aircraft developed by Slovenia's Bat Aircraft Company has delivered dozens of them worldwide. It is the largest pure electric aircraft in use so far, with a flight time of up to 2 hours. China's electric aircraft "Rui Xiang RX1E-A" also made its maiden flight. The aircraft has a flight time of up to 2.5 hours, a take-off weight of up to 600 kilograms, can carry two people, and can reach a height of 3,000 meters.

In this case, what is the significance of Musk's proposal to strive for another ten years to build an electric aircraft? We can know it by listening to Musk's words: "I like the idea of ​​creating an electric aircraft company. I think it can develop a very cool supersonic, vertical take-off and landing electric aircraft, which must be very interesting..."

It turns out that Musk wants to continue his unique style, just like many of the new gadgets he has created, all of which must be high-end, classy, ​​sci-fi, and unique. His electric aircraft has at least three major features: one is supersonic speed, two is vertical take-off and landing, and three is the ability to fly on Mars. This is very difficult.

The first thing to solve is the battery problem

Let’s take a look at the electric cars today. Some of them claim to have a range of 600 kilometers, but they run out of battery after 300 kilometers. Although the car owners are helpless, they are fortunately on the ground. Although it is uncomfortable, it is not in great danger. If the car runs out of battery in the sky, someone would fall down and die.

Therefore, making high-quality and efficient batteries to ensure the endurance of electric aircraft is the most basic requirement for electric aircraft. Therefore, Musk said that the electric aircraft he wants to make needs very powerful batteries. How to understand this powerful? Musk has a specific quantitative requirement, that is, the energy density of each kilogram of battery must reach at least 400 watts of output power and last for 1 hour.

Tesla cars currently use Panasonic 2170 batteries, which have a relatively good energy density among electric cars in the world, but can only reach 260 watts per kilogram for one hour. It is reported that a team led by Jeff Dahn of Dalhousie University in Canada has developed a new type of anode-free lithium metal battery with an energy density of 350 watts per hour.

But this energy density is still far from Musk's requirements.

Musk said that in the next five years, batteries that meet the standards will be made. But even if the battery level is reached, there are still three important problems to overcome, namely propulsion, vertical take-off and landing, and supersonic speed.

Despite so many difficulties, can a supersonic electric aircraft with vertical take-off and landing eventually become a reality?

Nowadays, electric aircraft are all propeller-driven. Although propeller-driven aircraft can achieve vertical take-off and landing, can they reach supersonic speed? The US Osprey V-22 is a rotorcraft that can take off and land vertically and can transform into level flight in the air. In theory, it can also use electric motors to drive the rotors, but its maximum level flight speed is only 507 kilometers per hour, which is obviously not Musk's cup of tea.

Currently, the Russian Tu-95 has the heaviest propeller aircraft, with a maximum takeoff weight of 188 tons and a speed of 900 kilometers per hour. However, supersonic speed must reach at least 1,200 kilometers per hour, which is still a big gap. Moreover, the Tu-95 has a huge power system, reaching 44,000 kilowatts. If it is to be powered by electricity, even if a battery of 400 watts per kilogram is used, the battery weight will reach 110 tons. Is this possible?

So, can a jet aircraft like the British Harrier be built without propellers? No one knows yet. The problem is that this aircraft must be able to fly not only on Earth but also on Mars, which is even more difficult.

Therefore, Musk is still scratching his head about this electric aircraft, but he seems to be full of confidence. He said that he has had this dream for 10 years, and it will take another 10 years of hard work to succeed. Previously, there was a design that claimed to be Musk's fifth type of transportation, the Hyperloop plan (pictured above), which took seven years to complete. It is not known whether it is true or not.

As for whether the supersonic vertical take-off and landing electric aircraft can succeed and whether it can be used on Mars in the future, we will have to wait and see. However, Musk's boasts have always been true, and they all came true in the end. I think this electric supersonic vertical take-off and landing aircraft should also be successful.

What do you think? Welcome to discuss, thanks for reading.

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