It's not a stretch whatsoever. They just handed out the results using their existing power train.
Not to mention there are now even far-more superior graphene batteries from NanoXplore & ZETA that make regional transport not just likely but guaranteed.
They're the only scalable eVTOL out there perfectly poised for interruption.
Can anyone answer why so many electric concepts adopt the many engines approach. I really haven't found a good answer. My best guess is that there isn't currently a suitable drop in engine, but given the cost of aviation development, surely there are incentives to develop a good engine as well.
>WeirdWings
That's my suspicion - while internal combustion and turbine engines have increasing efficiency with up scaling, electric motors don't.
In the absence of efficiencies of scale, the advantages of redundancy and spreading the thrust around the airframe trump the cost of the wiring and software.
A King Air could in theory have been designed with a singular engine, but the amount of torque and power required would be almost impossible to provide with any single gas engine.
For an airplane with gross weight of \~6000lbs, it's almost impossible to design an electric motor with the torque and power and efficiency required to have a single propeller.
So, in the year 2023, it's more efficient to have multiple smaller electric motors. Additionally, as an eVTOL, multiple motors gets rid of the need for a collective and substitute mechanical complexity with software complexity.
Lilium has a more special case though, in that they're using their ducts to increase the cL (or lift per unit speed and unit air density) through a concept similar to blown lift. So that's why not only do they have lots of motors, but they're distributed along the wing.
> For an airplane with gross weight of ~6000lbs, it's almost impossible to design an electric motor with the torque and power and efficiency required to have a single propeller.
From when is that information? I dont think that is correct anymore. With the new brushless outrunners you can build insaney powerful electric motors, and that doesnt even take into account the latest axial flux electric motors. Plus you can basically stack as many of them as you want on a single propeller shaft, one behind the other.
**[Distributed propulsion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distributed_propulsion)**
>In aeronautics, Distributed propulsion is an arrangement in which the propulsive and related air flows are distributed over the aerodynamic surfaces of an aircraft. The purpose is to improve the craft's aerodynamic, propulsive and/or structural efficiency over an equivalent conventional design. Anticipated benefits include improved fuel efficiency, emissions, noise, landing field length and handling. Distributed propulsion may be accomplished by spanwise distribution of partially or fully embedded multiple small engines or fans along the wing.
^([ )[^(F.A.Q)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WikiSummarizer/wiki/index#wiki_f.a.q)^( | )[^(Opt Out)](https://reddit.com/message/compose?to=WikiSummarizerBot&message=OptOut&subject=OptOut)^( | )[^(Opt Out Of Subreddit)](https://np.reddit.com/r/WeirdWings/about/banned)^( | )[^(GitHub)](https://github.com/Sujal-7/WikiSummarizerBot)^( ] Downvote to remove | v1.5)
14 Comments
tippedframe@reddit
UnwittingCapitalist@reddit
Frank77GLD@reddit
JoaoEB@reddit
Gnome_Artificer@reddit
Guardman1996@reddit
meeware@reddit
A-Square@reddit
wheelontour@reddit
whadk@reddit
WikiSummarizerBot@reddit
HanSolo71@reddit (OP)
TemporaryAmbassador1@reddit
Designed_To_Flail@reddit