On a cold Tuesday morning outside of Vancouver, the all-electric motor built by magniX just made history: allowing a 1940s designed sea plane to make it’s inaugural flight with journalists and co-workers cheering it on.
Inside the cockpit: Harbour Air CEO Greg McDougall, the man betting big on all-electric flight. McDougall’s goal is to retrofit his entire fleet of seaplanes and have commercial flights carrying paying customers in 2022.
Watching from the ground was Roei Ganzarski, CEO of magniX. He compared the importance of today’s flight to a flight taking place 116 years ago – when the Wright Brothers took flight for the first time.
“We are proving that low-cost, environmentally friendly, commercial electric air travel can be a reality in the very near future,” said Ganzarski.
Cost will be a massive selling point. The trips Harbour Air runs can cost a few hundred dollars in fuel. With the magniX motor, the price drops to a few dollars per passenger when you account for the price of charging. That doesn’t mean you’ll be boarding a jet at major airports powered by batteries anytime soon; the weight of batteries is still restrictive compared the amount of power gained by burning fossil fuels. What Tuesday’s achievement underscores is that small to mid-range flights are now possible without a carbon footprint.
“Today, we made history,” said McDougall. “Canada has long held an iconic role in the history of aviation, and to be part of this incredible world-first milestone is something we can all be really proud of.”
Harbour Air won’t be the only commercial planes flying on electricity for long. The team at magniX is working with another company that’s planning test flights at Moses Lake in 2020. While it’s unclear how quickly electric aviation will take off, it’s clear that multiple companies want into the game -- including a who’s who of major airline companies and startups.