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Comment by chaboud | Hacker News Reader

Thanks for inviting questions. This is a very fun idea that basically turns the Spruce Goose’s single flight in ground effect into a scaled reality. Amazing.

With what is likely 1500+ pounds of battery, what is the operational charging/swapping strategy for carriers? Put another way, after one hour of operation (to exhaustion), how long is the vehicle expected to be idle?

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We're using lithium-ion batteries (for now), so charging is like any electric car. As long as you have the power to fast charge it, you can do a full batter in ~45 mins.

That's max range (=180 miles) at 45 min charge. So let's say we're doing 90 mile missions between the islands of Hawaii, you only drain half the battery, so charge time is only ~20-25 mins - which is how long it takes passenger to unboard and board anyways!

Have you considered having swappable batteries, so you can skip the recharging time entirely?

Definitely considered. Swapping means specialized training, specialized equipment (these batteries are thousands of lbs), and mass storages of batteries to be on-hand at your docks. All drive the cost higher. So far our customers have not indicated that the charge times cause them problems, and the cost savings are significant in charge vs swap.

Plus, this way seagliders can potentially utilize the same charging infrastructure as electric aircraft, boats, and busses.

Additionally, swapping adds overhead mass to provide that sort of modularity and invites wear and tear on connectors and seals. All things we remove or reduce by integrating the system and utilizing onboard charging.

Swapping batteries probably isn’t a good idea but swapping planes might be. A lot of desirable routes like SF <-> LA become possible with two flights, if an operator sets up a halfway point with charging stations you could disembark one plane and embark the next. The plane they just flew in on starts charging and becomes the second leg plane for the next flight through there. With even just one plane sitting there you can support a trip every 45m-1h.

> turns the Spruce Goose’s single flight in ground effect into a scaled reality. Amazing.

I mean, it's been a reality for over a decade. This isn't new at all.

https://www.wigetworks.com/

No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame.

https://slashdot.org/story/01/10/23/1816257/apple-releases-i...

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