Who’s Killing the Electric Plane?

U.S. Aviation designers are hampered by federal rules restricting the use of battery-powered aircraft. Here is a look at a few electric planes that, under current FAA rules, are unavailable to sport pilots.

Even as the federal government jump-starts electric cars with $2.4 billion in research funds, electric airplanes are getting held back. In fact, current Federal Aviation Administration rules prohibit electric motors in light sport aircraft, a class of planes typically flown by less experienced pilots. The FAA decrees that LSAs be powered only by reciprocating engines, a measure intended to keep high-powered turbine engines out of the hands of novice sport pilots. This rule is now thwarting the sale of electric airplanes in the United States. “We’re reluctant to introduce technology on a less experienced pilot population,” says the FAA’s Steve Flanagan, who helped write the LSA rules. “We need to get some more flight experience with electric motors.” That position is frustrating to Randall Fishman, an ultralight pilot who’s currently developing an electric two-seat sport plane, the ElectraFlyer-X. The $65,000 kit plane is being designed to LSA specifications so it can quickly go into production if and when the FAA gives electric airplane motors the okay.