One of the most promising 100% battery-powered aircraft designs today, the Alice has changed again. Eviation, a startup based in the United States, released a new configuration for the twin-engine electric plane last week.
The biggest change is in the shape of the fuselage, which previously resembled a teardrop and is now a conventional tube, but the Alice also gained larger wings, a new tail and expanded battery compartments.
Eviation, however, did not disclose technical specifications, although it maintains capacity for nine occupants.
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With a new CEO since January, Andre Stein, a former member of Eve Air Mobility (a subsidiary of Embraer), Eviation stated that the Alice prototype, which performed a single flight in September 2022, was just a conceptual aircraft.
It was the second configuration change promoted by Eviation, which emerged in 2019 with a conventional landing gear design, V-tail and just one pusher engine.
In 2021, Alice gained more traditional shapes, with tricycle landing gear and two engines installed in the T-tail.
The current project was carried out by the engineering company TLG Aerospace and brings the advantages of more efficient and cheaper manufacturing and maintenance processes, in addition to allowing Eviation to develop larger variants of the twin engine.
The interior, Stein told AINOnline, was redesigned and more optimized for space, including an upper luggage compartment. The new wings will also allow for a greater takeoff weight, which is reflected in more batteries.
Potential sales of US$5 billion
The project update, however, means another delay in the program, which was originally supposed to deliver the first aircraft in 2024.
At the time of the inaugural flight, the company predicted that Alices would begin deliveries in 2027.
This time, the new CEO preferred not to specify a date, only that he believes the electric aircraft will enter service by the end of the decade.
Eviation, which was founded by Israeli entrepreneurs, is today controlled by the Clermont Group, also owner of MagniX, which supplies the electric motors.
The company says it has about $5 billion in potential sales of the Alice, including DHL, which has ordered a cargo variant.
