Connect with us
Electric plane Electric plane

News

Air New Zealand moves to purchase electric planes

Credit: Eviation

Published

on

Eviation, a leader in electric planes, has announced that Air New Zealand has signed a letter of intent to purchase the company’s Alise electric aircraft.

Eviation has seen a boom in orders over the past year, mainly after the company’s successful test flight of their electric aircraft, the Eviation Alise. The company’s orders now equate to over $2 billion in value, and the company has received yet another order, this one from Air New Zealand.

Air New Zealand’s letter of intent outlines that the airline will purchase 23 Eviation Alise electric planes as part of its “Mission NextGen Aircraft” program. The planes would service domestic flights in New Zealand, which the airline states are a huge segment of its demand.

“The Alice offers an effective way to decarbonize these journeys, revolutionizing air travel and supporting the goals of the Mission NextGen Aircraft program,” said Gregory Davis, President, and CEO of Eviation. “New Zealand has earned a proud reputation for its progressive attitude and wide-ranging policies towards the climate challenge. The Alice is a beautiful aircraft that will delight airline operators and passengers. Seeing it soar through the skies of New Zealand is a magical prospect, and I pay tribute to Air New Zealand’s commitment to innovation and sustainability.”

The press release from Eviation did not outline when these aircraft would be sold to the airline or when they could be put into service, but the deal nonetheless will help secure the airline’s spot in line as demand for electric planes continues to grow. “Eviation’s all-electric Alice aircraft is a natural fit for the program with its proven technology that is optimized for short-range flights,” says Air New Zealand CEO Greg Foran.

Advertisement

The Eviation Alise is still far from a traditional gas plane’s capacity and range capabilities, but it makes perfect sense for short, sub-300-mile flights. The plane seats nine passengers plus the flight crew and cargo, has a max speed of roughly 300mph, and a range of 287 miles.

While these specs are more than impressive for an electric plane, they highlight current EV technology’s limitations, mostly concerning batteries. Current batteries aren’t energy dense enough and weigh too much for long-distance flight applications, so Eviation is starting on a smaller scale. However, other sustainable options are being explored as well.

Rolls Royce’s aircraft engine division recently tested the world’s first hydrogen-powered jet engine and plans to do flight tests in the near future.

There is still much work to be done to make the aviation industry a more sustainable venture. Still, Eviation’s electric offerings are an essential step in the right direction. And through orders from notable airlines like Air New Zealand, these planes may be coming to fruition sooner than we realize.

What do you think of the article? Do you have any comments, questions, or concerns? Shoot me an email at william@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @WilliamWritin. If you have news tips, email us at tips@teslarati.com!

Advertisement

Will is an auto enthusiast, a gear head, and an EV enthusiast above all. From racing, to industry data, to the most advanced EV tech on earth, he now covers it at Teslarati.

Advertisement
Comments

News

Tesla Giga Berlin seems to be using FSD Unsupervised to move Model Y units

Tesla may be doing something quite special in the Giga Berlin-Brandenburg complex.

Published

on

Tesla FSD Unsupervised Giga Texas

Tesla may be doing something quite special in the Giga Berlin-Brandenburg complex. Based on observations from a recent drone flyover of the site, it appears that Tesla may also be using FSD Unsupervised to move freshly produced Model Y vehicles to the factory’s staging area.

New Drone Footage

Recent footage of the Giga Berlin complex from longtime Tesla watcher Tobias Lindh included several interesting updates around the Model Y factory. These include a new warehouse that is currently being built, as well as a tunnel is currently being constructed. More interestingly, the drone operator observed that some cars now seem to be moving to Giga Berlin’s distribution area without human drivers.

If the drone operator’s observations prove accurate, it would be quite an impressive accomplishment for Tesla. FSD Unsupervised, after all, has only been confirmed in vehicles that are produced at the Fremont Factory and Gigafactory Texas.

https://twitter.com/NicklasNilsso14/status/1922799362511376892

Potential Next Steps

If Giga Berlin is now using FSD Unsupervised to transport some Model Y units from the factory building to the site’s staging area, it might only be a matter of time before Tesla also implements a similar system for Gigafactory Shanghai. The Shanghai-based Tesla plant, after all, is the company’s largest factory by volume, and it also serves as a primary vehicle export hub. FSD Unsupervised could then pave the way for Giga Shanghai to operate in an even more optimal manner. 

FSD Unsupervised is the cornerstone of Tesla’s robotaxi business, which is expected to start rolling out in Austin, Texas, next month. Previous reports have suggested that Tesla is pushing hard in its preparations to roll out its robotaxi service this June. Tesla has reportedly even worked and trained with Austin’s first responders from the fire and police departments as part of its robotaxi service preparations.

Advertisement

Check out a recent flyover of the Tesla Giga Berlin complex in the video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9RFgOiFiU0
Continue Reading

Investor's Corner

Tesla welcomes Chipotle President Jack Hartung to its Board of Directors

Tesla announced the addition of its new director in a post on social media platform X.

Published

on

Credit: @ArthurFromX/X

Tesla has welcomed Chipotle president Jack Hartung to its Board of Directors. Hartung will officially start his tenure at the electric vehicle maker on June 1, 2025.

Tesla announced the addition of its new director in a post on social media platform X.

Jack Hartung’s Role

With Hartung’s addition, the Tesla Board will now have nine members. It’s been a while since the company added a new director. Prior to Hartung, the last addition to the Tesla Board was Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia back in 2022. As noted in a Reuters report, Hartung will serve on the Tesla Board’s audit committee. He will also retire from his position as president and chief strategy officer at Chipotle, and transition into a senior advisor’s role at the restaurant chain, next month.

Hartung has had a long career in the Mexican grill, joining Chipotle in 2002. He held several positions in the company, most recently serving as Chipotle’s President and Chief Strategy Officer. Tesla highlighted Hartung’s accomplishments in a post on its official account on X.

“Over the past 20+ years under Jack’s financial leadership, Chipotle has seen significant growth with over 3,700 restaurants today across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. Jack was named ‘CFO of the Year’ by Orange County Business Journal and Best CFO in the restaurant category by Institutional Investor,” Tesla wrote in its post on X.

Advertisement

Tesla Board and Musk

Tesla is a controversial company with a controversial CEO, so it is no surprise that the Board of Directors tend to get flak as well. Two weeks ago, for example, Tesla Board Chair Robyn Denholm slammed The Wall Street Journal for publishing an article alleging that company directors had considered a search for a potential successor to Elon Musk. Denholm herself has also been criticized for offloading her TSLA shares.

More recently, news emerged suggesting that the Tesla Board of Directors had formed a special committee aimed at exploring a new pay package for CEO Elon Musk. The committee is reportedly comprised of Tesla board Chair Robyn Denholm and independent director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson, and they would be exploring alternative compensation methods for Musk’s contributions to the company.

Continue Reading

News

Tesla posts FSD demonstrations in Australia and France

Tesla is expected to roll out a robotaxi service that uses FSD Unsupervised in Austin, Texas sometime next month.

Published

on

Credit: Tesla Europe & Middle East/X

Tesla definitely seems determined to prove that its Full Self-Driving (FSD) system is capable of operating safely anywhere. This was highlighted by the company in a couple of videos posted on social media platform X, which showed the self-driving system in action in Australia and France.

Tesla is expected to roll out a robotaxi service that uses FSD Unsupervised in Austin, Texas sometime next month.

New FSD Unsupervised Demonstrations

To start off Tesla’s recent demonstrations, the Tesla AI Team posted a video of FSD Supervised being tested in Melbourne, Australia. The video was nearly two minutes long, and it featured FSD navigating the city’s busy inner streets. FSD handled the drive without any issues, even performing Australia’s infamous hook turn at one time. The demonstration was received warmly by the EV community, especially since FSD accomplished all this while operating an RHD vehicle. 

Another FSD demonstration, this time posted by the official Tesla Europe & Middle East X account, featured the Supervised self-driving system navigating France’s complicated Arc de Triomphe. The area is challenging, considering that it’s one of the largest roundabouts in the country. FSD Supervised, however, expertly handled the roundabout, pausing for cars as needed and maintaining a safe distance from other vehicles.

Tesla did place a disclaimer on its recent test videos, stating that “FSD (Supervised) engineering test drive in a prototype vehicle driven by a safety driver. For demonstration purposes only. FSD (Supervised) is a hands-on feature that requires driver control of the vehicle and attention on the road at all times. Future activation and use subject to development and regulatory approval.”

Advertisement

FSD Unsupervised

Tesla is not yet rolling out FSD Unsupervised to consumer vehicles. The company, however, has been using the system to transport cars from the Fremont Factory and Giga Texas’ production lines to their respective staging areas. In Giga Texas, freshly produced Model Y units drive completely driverless for 1.4 miles before reaching its staging lot. The Cybertrucks, on the other hand, navigate a Boring Company tunnel on their way to their staging area.

Tesla is planning on releasing a dedicated robotaxi service using Model Y vehicles equipped with FSD Unsupervised in Austin, Texas this June. Previous reports also suggest that Tesla is hard at work preparing for the rollout of its robotaxi service, with the company reportedly testing 300 vehicles around Austin over the past months. Tesla has reportedly also conducted safety tests and training sessions with Austin’s first responders from the fire department and police as part of its robotaxi service preparations.

Continue Reading

Trending