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TSiegetoday at 4:32 PM2 repliesview on HN

Does anyone know if there is a theoretical limit for how energy dense a battery could be?

I wonder if there is a possible future where some sort of commercial long haul flights could be done by a fully electric plane. I've never gotten a great answer on this, and maybe we don't have an answer for certain since battery chemistry is some sense is still early days


Replies

tensortoday at 5:15 PM

From what I remember on the topic, batteries are not yet remotely close to dense enough to enable long haul flights. Even hydrogen electric doesn't cut it, and hydrogen fuel is much denser energy wise than conventional batteries.

Perhaps if solid state batteries become cost effective to produce at scale that would change the feasibility, but someone else would have to chime in there.

margalabargalatoday at 5:49 PM

The answer to this question depends heavily on your definition of "battery".