Battery Electric Vehicle News / Enjoying the Transportation Revolution

Martyn1981

Watched the series Hijack with Idris Elba on the weekend (spoiler alert - the plane gets hijacked). And boring soul that I am, I was pondering the introduction of BEV tugs for moving the planes around. Lost track of progress.

So a timely article on planned changes at Munich airport (by 2028). Just seems that a BEV with heavy batts and instant torque would struggle to find a better role than this.

Munich is getting 14 of these 352-ton electric aircraft tractors from Goldhofer

Frequent visitors to Germany’s Munich Airport will be able to breathe a little bit easier soon, thanks to a new deal with the ground support experts at Goldhofer for 14 of its all-electric, 352 ton-rated PHOENIX E aircraft tractors.

michaels

Martyn1981 said:

Watched the series Hijack with Idris Elba on the weekend (spoiler alert - the plane gets hijacked). And boring soul that I am, I was pondering the introduction of BEV tugs for moving the planes around. Lost track of progress.

So a timely article on planned changes at Munich airport (by 2028). Just seems that a BEV with heavy batts and instant torque would struggle to find a better role than this.

Munich is getting 14 of these 352-ton electric aircraft tractors from Goldhofer

Frequent visitors to Germany’s Munich Airport will be able to breathe a little bit easier soon, thanks to a new deal with the ground support experts at Goldhofer for 14 of its all-electric, 352 ton-rated PHOENIX E aircraft tractors.

Think there have been BEV 'radio controlled car' pushback tractors for smaller jets at UK airports for several years?

British Airways | BRITISH AIRWAYS’ REMOTE-CONTROL PUSHBACK VEHICLES REACH RECORD 100,000 DEPARTURES

Netexporter

Speaking of Goldhofer, I came across this transport conundrum, the other day:

Very heavy transport escorted by police Tesla (youtube.com)

Features Tesla police car, so not entirely off topic.

Martyn1981

More interesting than I expected! The monthly figures for Norway are out with 94.3% BEV sales, and a breakdown of the various regulatory issues that cause some short hiccups in the monthly numbers.

We may now see Norway with consistent 90%+ monthly figures, and ICE to PHEV sales fading away.

EVs Take 95.7% Share In Norway — End-Game Emerging

The August auto market saw plugin EVs take 95.7% share in Norway, a new record, up from 90.0% year on year. BEVs alone took 94.3% share, with all other powertrains now only collecting crumbs. Overall auto volume in August was 11,114 units, flat YoY. The best selling BEV was the Tesla Model Y.

August’s sales saw combined EVs take 95.7% share in Norway, with a record 94.3% full battery electrics (BEVs) and just 1.4% plugin hybrids (PHEVs). These compare with YoY figures of 90.0% combined, with 83.5% BEV and 6.5% PHEV.

BEVs are now entering the end-game in Norway, and even PHEVs are fast fading out.

Since Norway is already now in the 90% to 95% range for BEVs, and the charging infrastructure is largely keeping up with demand, the national economic outlook is mostly going to influence the speed at which the fleet transitions over to EVs and the proportion of kilometers driven on electricity. A more buoyant economy will increase sales of autos (now almost all BEVs) and thus increase the early retirement (or relegation to only occasional use) of the previous generation of vehicles (now almost all gas-guzzlers).

Martyn1981

UK August numbers are out. They are OK, but my own (entirely personal) metric that we haven't reached yet is 10% x the year for PEV's in the later months. So we're at ~25%, well short of 40%.

Still as some famous Anglo-Aussie philosophers once said, it's a long way to the top if you want those BEV's to roll.

SMMT August Car Registrations

Martyn1981

Looks like the EV sewcondhand market is now well established, allowing more folk to get on board the BEVolution, whilst we wait for smaller and cheaper models.

Used EVs Are Now Cheaper & More Efficient In UK Than Their Gasoline Or Diesel Counterparts

HPI data shows that average retail prices of EVs are cheaper than petrol and diesel vehicles by around 8.5% at three years and rising to 14% at four years.

With over 1.1 million battery electric cars on UK roads, HPI, a vehicle history check and valuation specialist, is offering motorists a handy new guide to buying their first EV.

New EVs are commonly more expensive than the closest petrol and diesel equivalents, however, used EV values have fallen sharply in the past two years to provide motorists with a bargain.

CKhalvashi

michaels said:

Martyn1981 said:

Watched the series Hijack with Idris Elba on the weekend (spoiler alert - the plane gets hijacked). And boring soul that I am, I was pondering the introduction of BEV tugs for moving the planes around. Lost track of progress.

So a timely article on planned changes at Munich airport (by 2028). Just seems that a BEV with heavy batts and instant torque would struggle to find a better role than this.

Munich is getting 14 of these 352-ton electric aircraft tractors from Goldhofer

Frequent visitors to Germany’s Munich Airport will be able to breathe a little bit easier soon, thanks to a new deal with the ground support experts at Goldhofer for 14 of its all-electric, 352 ton-rated PHOENIX E aircraft tractors.

Think there have been BEV 'radio controlled car' pushback tractors for smaller jets at UK airports for several years?

British Airways | BRITISH AIRWAYS’ REMOTE-CONTROL PUSHBACK VEHICLES REACH RECORD 100,000 DEPARTURES

I don't believe they're 350t versions though.

Tractors are generally based on aircraft MTOW. As I'm aware, these wouldn't be suitable for the A320 family aircraft that OH flies, which generally has a MTOW of below 100t.

350t will be for A330, A350, 747, 777 and 787-size aircraft. They're common already for smaller types.

OH feels it's funny to have a TOGA flap 3 takeoff after being pushed back by an electric tractor. As SAF becomes more available, this will become less of a problem. Work already is underway on the engine certification for the NEO for a 100% SAF blend. Currently the maximum is 50% and a 40% blend is used due to small tolerances in the fuel at airports this is available.

Flying in general though is actually quite green on an emissions/km basis, especially as emissions fall on European LCCs. I've got trips booked with 2 such airlines, 2 flights of which will be operated on an A321neo with 239 seats to Belgrade (currently about the most sustainable aircraft in the skies), the other 2 are with the 737-8 MAX to Madrid, which has 197 seats in this configuration and is still about 20% more sustainable than previous generation models. Interestingly it would have been cheaper to transfer in Cluj outbound and Budapest inbound for the Madrid (specific dates are needed as I'm going for a specific event). I've chosen the direct routing.

Grumpy_chap

CKhalvashi said:

michaels said:

Martyn1981 said:

Watched the series Hijack with Idris Elba on the weekend (spoiler alert - the plane gets hijacked). And boring soul that I am, I was pondering the introduction of BEV tugs for moving the planes around. Lost track of progress.

So a timely article on planned changes at Munich airport (by 2028). Just seems that a BEV with heavy batts and instant torque would struggle to find a better role than this.

Munich is getting 14 of these 352-ton electric aircraft tractors from Goldhofer

Frequent visitors to Germany’s Munich Airport will be able to breathe a little bit easier soon, thanks to a new deal with the ground support experts at Goldhofer for 14 of its all-electric, 352 ton-rated PHOENIX E aircraft tractors.

Think there have been BEV 'radio controlled car' pushback tractors for smaller jets at UK airports for several years?

British Airways | BRITISH AIRWAYS’ REMOTE-CONTROL PUSHBACK VEHICLES REACH RECORD 100,000 DEPARTURES

I don't believe they're 350t versions though.

Tractors are generally based on aircraft MTOW. As I'm aware, these wouldn't be suitable for the A320 family aircraft that OH flies, which generally has a MTOW of below 100t.

350t will be for A330, A350, 747, 777 and 787-size aircraft. They're common already for smaller types.

OH feels it's funny to have a TOGA flap 3 takeoff after being pushed back by an electric tractor. As SAF becomes more available, this will become less of a problem. Work already is underway on the engine certification for the NEO for a 100% SAF blend. Currently the maximum is 50% and a 40% blend is used due to small tolerances in the fuel at airports this is available.

Flying in general though is actually quite green on an emissions/km basis, especially as emissions fall on European LCCs. I've got trips booked with 2 such airlines, 2 flights of which will be operated on an A321neo with 239 seats to Belgrade (currently about the most sustainable aircraft in the skies), the other 2 are with the 737-8 MAX to Madrid, which has 197 seats in this configuration and is still about 20% more sustainable than previous generation models. Interestingly it would have been cheaper to transfer in Cluj outbound and Budapest inbound for the Madrid (specific dates are needed as I'm going for a specific event). I've chosen the direct routing.

That post has so many abbreviations it needs it's own glossary to be understood.

CKhalvashi

Grumpy_chap said:

CKhalvashi said:

michaels said:

Martyn1981 said:

Watched the series Hijack with Idris Elba on the weekend (spoiler alert - the plane gets hijacked). And boring soul that I am, I was pondering the introduction of BEV tugs for moving the planes around. Lost track of progress.

So a timely article on planned changes at Munich airport (by 2028). Just seems that a BEV with heavy batts and instant torque would struggle to find a better role than this.

Munich is getting 14 of these 352-ton electric aircraft tractors from Goldhofer

Frequent visitors to Germany’s Munich Airport will be able to breathe a little bit easier soon, thanks to a new deal with the ground support experts at Goldhofer for 14 of its all-electric, 352 ton-rated PHOENIX E aircraft tractors.

Think there have been BEV 'radio controlled car' pushback tractors for smaller jets at UK airports for several years?

British Airways | BRITISH AIRWAYS’ REMOTE-CONTROL PUSHBACK VEHICLES REACH RECORD 100,000 DEPARTURES

I don't believe they're 350t versions though.

Tractors are generally based on aircraft MTOW. As I'm aware, these wouldn't be suitable for the A320 family aircraft that OH flies, which generally has a MTOW of below 100t.

350t will be for A330, A350, 747, 777 and 787-size aircraft. They're common already for smaller types.

OH feels it's funny to have a TOGA flap 3 takeoff after being pushed back by an electric tractor. As SAF becomes more available, this will become less of a problem. Work already is underway on the engine certification for the NEO for a 100% SAF blend. Currently the maximum is 50% and a 40% blend is used due to small tolerances in the fuel at airports this is available.

Flying in general though is actually quite green on an emissions/km basis, especially as emissions fall on European LCCs. I've got trips booked with 2 such airlines, 2 flights of which will be operated on an A321neo with 239 seats to Belgrade (currently about the most sustainable aircraft in the skies), the other 2 are with the 737-8 MAX to Madrid, which has 197 seats in this configuration and is still about 20% more sustainable than previous generation models. Interestingly it would have been cheaper to transfer in Cluj outbound and Budapest inbound for the Madrid (specific dates are needed as I'm going for a specific event). I've chosen the direct routing.

That post has so many abbreviations it needs it's own glossary to be understood.

Sorry!

T after a number = Tonne
The range of numbers is related to aircraft types, those starting with A is Airbus, 7x7 is Boeing
MTOW = Max takeoff weight
TOGA = Maximum power
SAF = Sustainable aviation fuel
NEO = New Engine Option, a marketing term for new aircraft for Airbus
LCC = Low cost carrier
MAX = Marketing term for Boeing for new aircraft.

michaels

CKhalvashi said:

michaels said:

Martyn1981 said:

Watched the series Hijack with Idris Elba on the weekend (spoiler alert - the plane gets hijacked). And boring soul that I am, I was pondering the introduction of BEV tugs for moving the planes around. Lost track of progress.

So a timely article on planned changes at Munich airport (by 2028). Just seems that a BEV with heavy batts and instant torque would struggle to find a better role than this.

Munich is getting 14 of these 352-ton electric aircraft tractors from Goldhofer

Frequent visitors to Germany’s Munich Airport will be able to breathe a little bit easier soon, thanks to a new deal with the ground support experts at Goldhofer for 14 of its all-electric, 352 ton-rated PHOENIX E aircraft tractors.

Think there have been BEV 'radio controlled car' pushback tractors for smaller jets at UK airports for several years?

British Airways | BRITISH AIRWAYS’ REMOTE-CONTROL PUSHBACK VEHICLES REACH RECORD 100,000 DEPARTURES

I don't believe they're 350t versions though.

Tractors are generally based on aircraft MTOW. As I'm aware, these wouldn't be suitable for the A320 family aircraft that OH flies, which generally has a MTOW of below 100t.

350t will be for A330, A350, 747, 777 and 787-size aircraft. They're common already for smaller types.

OH feels it's funny to have a TOGA flap 3 takeoff after being pushed back by an electric tractor. As SAF becomes more available, this will become less of a problem. Work already is underway on the engine certification for the NEO for a 100% SAF blend. Currently the maximum is 50% and a 40% blend is used due to small tolerances in the fuel at airports this is available.

Flying in general though is actually quite green on an emissions/km basis, especially as emissions fall on European LCCs. I've got trips booked with 2 such airlines, 2 flights of which will be operated on an A321neo with 239 seats to Belgrade (currently about the most sustainable aircraft in the skies), the other 2 are with the 737-8 MAX to Madrid, which has 197 seats in this configuration and is still about 20% more sustainable than previous generation models. Interestingly it would have been cheaper to transfer in Cluj outbound and Budapest inbound for the Madrid (specific dates are needed as I'm going for a specific event). I've chosen the direct routing.

I was looking at this, we generally travel less far so driving in a day is doable and for us taking the EV, especially 4 up, is orders of magnitude less co2 per mile than flying but sadly also nearly an order of magnitude more expensive.