World's first electric aircraft takes flight

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ANI Wellington
Last Updated : May 12 2014 | 10:45 AM IST

Airbus' latest creation 'E-Fan', which is the world's first ever electric aircraft, has successfully taken its maiden voyage.

This eco-friendly and low-noise plane's engines are powered by electricity, which carves a new path for the technology's potential in aircrafts and costs 16 dollars per hour to power providing decent height of 220km/h with a cruising speed of 160km/h on its 30kW engines, Stuff.co.nz reported.

The plane can stay in air for around 45-60 minutes, if it gets its proper power from 120 250V Li-ion batteries, which are stored in the wings, and backup battery are also provided that lasts around 15 minutes.

Spokesperson at Airbus said that extensive research and stress testing has established that the E-Fan's battery system provides sufficient safety margins and close supervision of all battery cell parameters are performed during test flights.

For now it might just look like as a stunt plane but a proper work might turn it into highly advanced technology like nuclear-powered planes.

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First Published: May 12 2014 | 10:31 AM IST

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