The Eviation Alice is a projected electric aircraft designed to accommodate nine passengers and two crew. Currently under development, it is of 95% composite material construction, is powered by three electric motors in pusher configuration and has a V-tail.
Design
Two variants of the Alice were originally planned. The initial, unpressurized model is intended for air taxi operations, with energy stored in a lithium-ion battery. Eviation was working on building a prototype scheduled to fly in early 2019. In 2017, a second pressurized model was to be an extended-range ER executive aircraft available by 2023 for $2.9 million, with a more powerful aluminum-air battery with a lithium-polymer buffer, a cabin pressurized to at FL 280, G5000 avionics, a cruise and range. In October 2019, Eviation described only the pressurized Alice Commuter with a cruise speed. With 260 Wh/kg cells, the 900 kWh battery capacity is initially estimated to give the design a range of at 240 knots and. This is anticipated to increase as battery technology improves. The batteries have been tested to more than 1,000 cycles, equivalent to 3,000 flight hours, and will then require replacement at a cost of $250,000 - half of the direct operating cost, similar to a piston engine overhaul. Based on U.S. industrial electricity prices, the direct operating cost with nine passengers and two crew, flying at, is claimed to be $200 per hour, which compares to $600–1,000 per hour for existing aircraft of similar purchase price such as the Cessna 402s, Pilatus PC-12 and Beechcraft King Air, for operations on routes under. 45% of air routes fall within its 565 nmi range at 260 kn, or 55% of airline flights according to Flightglobal's Cirium data. While the cost of operation per hour is much lower than for a turboprop aircraft, the Alice will be slower than some. The electric drivetrain will have a higher voltage than current electrical systems. Three motors drive two pusher propellers mounted on the wingtips, located in the vortices to improve efficiency, and a third mounted in the tail. The unpressurized aircraft has a flat lower fuselage. The Italian company Magnaghi Aeronautica supplies landing gear and has already produced the gear for the similarly sized Piaggio P.180 Avanti. It will be built with existing technology, including a composite airframe, propulsion from three Siemenselectric engines and Honeywell flight control systems, including automatic landing. At 3,700kg, the batteries account for 60% of the aircraft take-off weight. Manufacturing is planned in the US. The company plans for recharging to be carried out by mobile charging vehicles, similar to aviation fuel trucks. Each hour of flight time is expected to require a charging time of 30 minutes.
Development
Eviation was founded in 2015 by Omer Bar-Yohay, Omri Regev and Aviv Tzidon. Risk-sharing partnerships have enabled work to go ahead. In February 2018, a scale modelUAV was flown to validate the aerodynamics and flight controls. Kokam was selected to supply pouch lithium polymer batteries to power the full-scale prototype. Work on the power system and drive train was begun. Eviation teamed up with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University to launch a research and development program in the spring of 2019 at ERAU’s Prescott, Arizona campus. The program would focus on performance analysis, validation and testing, along with preliminary design and sub-scale testing of future electric propulsion and airframe design concepts. By early 2019, Eviation had secured $200 million of investment to cover certification and production while the first prototype was assembled in Vannes, northwest France. In April 2019, Eviation selected MagniX Magni250s 375 shp electric motors turning at 1,900 rpm as an alternative power option to Siemens 260 kW motors. At the June Paris Air Show, a full-size static Alice was exhibited. The first airline customer was announced: Hyannis, Massachusetts-based Cape Air. Cape Air ordered 92 aircraft, priced at $4 million. MagniX investor Clermont Group from Singapore took a 70% stake in Eviation Aircraft in August 2019. By October 2019, over 150 Alice aircraft had been ordered by two American companies. Further investment of $500 million was still needed to begin serial production. On 22 January 2020, a fire broke out, apparently in a ground-based battery system, and the prototype was destroyed. No one was injured. On 18 May 2020, GKN Aerospace announced their partnership with Eviation on the design and manufacture of the wing, empennage and electrical wiring interconnection system of subsequent Alice airframes.
