Shorrick_Mk2 wrote:
Electricity IS going to be cheap as supply is rather unconstrained and costs of production go down as tech prices go down.
Uff, please translate, I don’t follow. What tech prices?
If electric cars take off in any significant way, the demand looks to be rather unconstrained, not the supply …
Shorrick_Mk2 wrote:
If Germany has already reached negative electricity prices with the current generating facilities, the switch from oil to spark isn’t going to change much as exponentially more generation comes online.
Is that for wind/solar power at the wrong times, or for all (nuclear, coal,…) power generation?!
Tech prices as in the stuff that generates power. Silicon panels are tech. Demand is constrained by number of cars driven which is not infinite. Supply on the other hand can outlast demand. There have been models done by the NOAA taking weather patterns into account as well.
Negative prices are driven by excess supply as you cannot take a coal / nuclear baseload generator offline quick enough as you could with say CCGT. If one can have excess supply in a heavily industrialised country like Germany, surely it’s feasible elsewhere…
If you doubt it, look up Eon and RWE earnings…
172driver wrote:
I’m pretty sure we’ll see electric trainers with swappable battery packs appear on the scene relatively soon.
Pipstrel Alpha Electro https://www.evhangar.com/aircraft/pipistrel-alpha-electro/ seemed to be almost ready, but then Pipistrel fell-out with Siemens and now the engine is unclear… any news?
This is an efficient airframe, but still needs 120kg of batteries for an hour’s flight at very low power cruise, or 20min of max continuous power or 12min at takeoff power … purely electric aircraft are going to be very niche for quite some time…
esteban wrote:
Pipstrel Alpha Electro
Has not made it to market and has no sales. Pipistrel does make a glider that takes off with an electric motor then retracts and glides back.
USFlyer wrote:
Pipistrel does make a glider that takes off with an electric motor then retracts and glides back.
There are several of those, so it is indeed feasible. There are some with turbines also, runs on diesel 
or kerosene at least.
got an Answer from Diamond regarding the DA20 with Jet A1 engine.
Die DA20 mit einem Diesel/Jet A1 Motor, die auf der AERO 2015 als Mockup ausgestellt war, befindet sich nach wie vor in der Entwicklung. Ein Zeitpunkt, wann diese zugelassen sein wird, lässt sich aus heutiger Sicht nicht sagen.
It says that it is not clear yet when it will be certified… ;-(
Regards
Which engine is fitted
This one, called AE200
esteban wrote:
If electric cars take off in any significant way, the demand looks to be rather unconstrained, not the supply …
Much of that demand will probably be overnight demand – which is where there is massive oversupply currently. I would imagine we’ll see the return of things like “Economy 7” type electricity tariffs, to encourage electric car charging between midnight and 6 am.
Also in many places, electric cars aren’t going to take over for a very long time. For an electric car to be practical you need off-street parking. Half the population where I live does not have off-street parking. I don’t have off-street parking. I doubt I’ll even contemplate an electric car for the next 20+ years.
LeSving wrote:
Companies are owned by other companies and this changes faster than you and I change underpants. It’s the trademark that counts. Therefore, Thielert engines are now Continental, and owned by some Chinese company
Except that Continental (and their ownership) are not the only organization making Thielert designed engines in 2016. So I think I’ll keep calling them Thielerts.
That might give you something to chew on 
