Pilots‘ View: The Future of Electric Flight?

Our readers weigh in with surprisingly strong opinions on where electric planes fit in to GA’s future fleet

Where do electric airplanes fit in with GA's future? Today, electrically powered planes have effectively zero penetration in the light plane market, and there's nothing on the near horizon that will change that. But looking out a little farther, how will electrics, with their clean power, their quiet noise footprint, and their cheap direct operating costs, fare in our future fleet?

Courtesy of Pipistrel

A surprising percentage of our survey respondents, 65-percent, believed that electric flight would play a big part in the future of GA, with 30 percent believing that most new planes within the next decade or so will be electric. Another 35 percent believed that electrics will play a significant but not huge role in GA.

A smaller number of you were skeptical, with 23 percent seeing the future of electrics in GA being minor, and 11 percent believing that they will remain a curiosity.

See the original survey here.


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