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Electric aircraft could transform short-distance regional air travel
Whenever the subject of electric aircraft comes up I see the room filled with skeptical looks. The looks are not unwarranted. Even electric cars remain in the low single digits for worldwide market share and electric flight is undoubtedly a greater hurdle. The enemy of flight is weight after all and batteries are rather heavy. The skepticism though, while justified, is misplaced.
The problem is that we tend to think of air transport as large intercontinental craft flying thousands of miles at a time. Those certainly exist and there’s even one that travels 9000 miles, flying 17 hours from Perth to London. The reality for most air travel, however, is somewhat different. Statistics from the US Bureau of Transportation show that the overwhelming majority of US passengers are on domestic flights and what’s more, nearly half of those are under 700 miles.
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics – T100 domestic, all carriers
The data graphed above shows that 20% of domestic passengers are flying under 350 miles in the USA, with nearly 50% under 700 miles. Forget about the 9,000 mile international flights, this is the market for electrified flight in the near-term. The aircraft to support it are nearly here.
I’ve written in the past about the various electric aircraft in development from companies like Zunum Aero, Wright Electric, Airbus/Siemens, NASA, Eviation, BYE, and others. It’s still very early but advancement is steady and the age of electric flight is coming. For a moment consider Zunum Aero’s aircraft, the ZA10. It’s a 12-seat hybrid for regional transport, slated to begin test flights next year and deliveries in the early 2020s. The aircraft is targeting a range of 700 miles and will have a shorter range all-electric version. There’s also a larger variant planned.
Zunum Aero’s ZA10
- 60 to 80% reduction in operating costs
- 80% lower emissions and noise
- 40% reduction in runway needs
- Hybrid-electric range of 700 miles
Back to those skeptical looks. The financial driver for electrification is huge, with the potential to reduce operating costs 60 to 80%. More so with carbon pricing. If said hybrid aircraft also create less pollution, require shorter runways, reduce maintenance, and produce less noise, well then which carriers wouldn’t want to use them? Particularly in a regional market which, as noted previously, includes nearly 50% of all domestic flights in the US.
That all seems great, but even this understates the impact of electrification. What’s missing from the analysis is the potential for electric aircraft to fundamentally transform air travel as we know it, to vastly increase the number of flights under 700 miles.
The data we have today shows us the past, but this is the future:
Electric and hybrid aircraft have the potential to open up new regions to air travel, revitalize small neglected airports, create jobs in small communities, and make travel more enjoyable for everyone. This vision will become a necessity if we hope to have a cohesive society and growing economy,
“In the globalized economy, communities without good air service struggle to attract investment and create jobs” – Zunum Aero
There’s a wonderful write-up on IEEE Spectrum which highlights how electrification can be the catalyst that rejuvenates regional travel. The article’s authors are from Zunum Aero, including the founder and the chief technology officer.
The article includes some interesting statistics on the current state of air travel. For example, the authors note that only 1% of the airports in the USA are responsible for 96% of the air traffic and that since 1980 the average aircraft seat capacity has increased by a factor of 4. What if electric aircraft can increase travel to just some of those other airports?
The current state of air travel is largely the result of financial choices made over many decades. Larger aircraft are more economical to purchase and operate, while fewer routes keep aircraft load factors high and simplifies logistics.
“Regional Travel is Ripe for Reinvention” – JetBlue Technology Ventures
The problem with this is that large airplanes require large infrastructure to support them (think space, buildings, runways) and the noise they generate is not well liked by residents. There aren’t many airports able to accommodate these needs so people are funneled to major airports located outside of major cities, sometimes inconveniently out of the way of the passengers’ ultimate destinations. This means more time is spent traveling to the airport, at the airport, and flying on the airplane, for an experience that is all to often chaotic and impersonal. In fact, door to door travel times have actually gotten worse for regional air travel, not better. Add in a snowstorm or a single large aircraft is delay and it can become a logistical nightmare.
The benefits of electric aircraft are particularly well suited to regional air travel needs. The question is, will it be enough to usher in a renaissance for regional flight, where smaller aircraft travel more routes and to smaller airports? I certainly think so. Toronto has a great example of how this might occur. The Toronto Island airport can only operate small aircraft due to noise restrictions, but it’s use has grown steadily. It’s accessibility from downtown and the spectacular speed of service are key drivers. With electric aircraft I believe this type of scenario will become the norm.
Now, what if you could do it from your own front door?
Hyper-local air travel with electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (E-VTOL)
Imagine this. You wake up in the morning, dress, open your phone and request an electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (VTOL) to take you to a city a few hours drive away. An electric autonomous car picks up you and drives you to a local VTOL access point, on top of a parkade near your home. Several small two and four seat aircraft are waiting there. Maybe someone is there to greet you but it’s only customary. Your phone recognizes your access and opens up the passenger compartment to your aircraft. You get in, there is no pilot, no cockpit – the vehicle is autonomous. Quickly the electric motors spin up, the craft rises into the air and carries you directly into the centre of a nearby city. Or maybe you go to a remote campsite or to an airport outside of the city where you can access an intercontinental flight. All of this for a cost less than traditional means of transport.
Long have we been promised a future of flying cars, but this time electric propulsion and increased autonomy can actually make it happen. Check out the video below of the first full scale test flight of the Lilium Jet in 2017. Such ideas were once confined to science fiction, but no more. Yes, this technology is in the early stages and it remains to be seen how far batteries can take us. Yet those batteries get better each year. For Lilium’s part they have manned test flights coming next year and they are targeting a range of 300km and speed of 300km/hr. That could open up a whole new type of air travel.
Electric VTOL – Lilium
Lilium started in 2013 with the vision of developing an all-electric “air-taxi” vehicle.
There are now dozens of companies working on electric VTOL aircraft, with over 100 projects underway. Norway’s aircraft operator Avinor even issued a report earlier this year that sees a path to small VTOL aircraft with 1 or 2 passengers in the early to mid 2020’s, with larger 4 or 5 person craft reaching market by the end of the 2020’s.
The fascinating world of VTOLs aside, fixed-wing hybrid and electric regional jets provide an obvious path for electrification. This will reduce operating costs, open up new opportunities for passengers, and reduced the environmental impact of flying. It’s where corporations and countries are already going. Norway for example has a target of 2030 for all regional flights to be fully electric, not hybrid, fully electric. While operators and manufacturers are pushing to see who can take the lead. One thing is certain, with the coming advancements in electric flight regional transport will never be the same.
Elon Musk
SpaceX’s next Starship flight set to make history on Friday the 13th
SpaceX is targeting Friday, November 13 for Starship Flight 15 and its first ship catch.
SpaceX is targeting Friday, November 13 for Starship Flight 15, the mission the company plans to use for its first attempt at catching the ship itself with the launch tower.
SpaceX Vice President of Launch Kiko Dontchev shared the date on stage at the UP.Summit on Thursday, according to Ars Technica’s Eric Berger, who was in attendance. It is the first launch target to come directly from a SpaceX executive. Until now, the public schedule had relied on FAA air traffic planning slides, which listed Flight 15 for no earlier than November 8 and later November 12. SpaceX has not posted an official mission page yet, and no launch time has been shared.
The date lands inside the window Elon Musk sketched out last month. Speaking at Giga Texas on October 10, Musk said the flight would “probably launch a little bit before Thanksgiving,” as Teslarati reported. On SpaceX’s third quarter earnings call ten days later, he confirmed that Flight 15 would try to catch both the Super Heavy booster and the ship, and put the odds of a successful ship catch at “more likely than not.” SpaceX also aired an animation of the maneuver during that webcast, showing the ship swinging vertical over Starbase before dropping into the tower’s chopsticks.
The hardware is ready. Booster 22 fired all 33 of its Raptor engines for a full duration static fire at Pad 2 on October 25. Ship 42 followed with a single engine burn simulating a deorbit maneuver on October 26 and a 60 second firing of all six engines the next day, according to NASASpaceflight. Ship 42 had already rehearsed the catch in September, when the Pad 2 arms lifted it into position and crews connected the quick disconnect arm while the vehicle hung from the tower.
The remaining hurdle is regulatory. The FAA’s Starship page does not yet list a Flight 15 license. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said in October that, after “significant constructive engagement with the FAA,” she expects the license to cover a return to the launch site and a tower catch for both stages. Bringing the ship home means a reentry path that heads toward land, rather than ending over open ocean as every Starship flight so far has.
SpaceX has caught Super Heavy three times, on Flights 5, 7 and 8, but the ship comes back from orbital velocity and has never been caught. Flight 14 on September 28 was the first Starship to reach orbit, deploying 26 Starlink V3 satellites before splashing down despite an early engine shutdown that Musk blamed on engine computer software.
Musk has called a successful ship catch “the first time that there’s been full recovery of an orbital class rocket,” and he has already named the step after it: a Flight 16 where both the booster and the ship fly again. NASASpaceflight reports that Ship 43, the next vehicle in line, is set for static fire testing in December.
EVgo has tapped Tesla Superchargers for its most recent efforts to expand its charging presence in the United States, a move that seems logical based on the effectiveness of the automaker’s own infrastructure.
EVgo opened its first Supercharger site in Illinois, a 12-stall station near downtown Chicago at 3145 South Ashland Avenue in the Riverside Square & River’s Edge center, right beside a grocery store. This marks the start of the company’s plan to deploy hundreds of Supercharger stalls across the United States, primarily at grocery-anchored Regency Centers properties where drivers can shop, eat, or run errands while they charge.
We’ve opened our first EVgo Supercharger location in Illinois, marking the start of our plan to add hundreds of Supercharger stalls across the U.S.
Designed for both NACS and CCS vehicles with Magic Dock technology, these new sites help make fast charging more accessible and convenient for all EV drivers. Learn more: https://t.co/V92t5FDryQ
— EVgo Fast Charging Network (@evgonetwork) November 5, 2026
The new location uses Tesla’s Magic Dock technology so both NACS and CCS vehicles can plug in natively without drivers needing to carry their own adapters. Peak power reaches 325 kW at this site, with pricing set between $0.25 and $0.35 per kWh depending on the hour—the same rate for Tesla and non-Tesla drivers.
The stalls also appear in Tesla’s in-car navigation and Trip Planner, making them easy for Tesla owners to find and route to. Illinois has seen EV registrations rise nearly 60 percent over the past two years, and EVgo’s broader network has experienced more than 700 percent growth in charging demand over three years, so the timing fits the market’s trajectory.
Choosing Tesla hardware through the Supercharger for Business program turns out to have been a smart, practical move.
Tesla’s V4 stalls and cabinets deliver high, reliable power with a proven track record of strong uptime, while Magic Dock delivers true dual-standard compatibility in one package. Because the sites show up in Tesla’s navigation tools, EVgo instantly gains visibility among millions of existing Tesla drivers, which should raise utilization and help the company double its addressable market as more vehicles adopt NACS. EVgo still owns the stations and sets pricing, yet benefits from Tesla’s established hardware, longer cables, and operational support.
The result is faster, lower-risk infrastructure expansion that serves every EV driver—Tesla or otherwise—with convenient, high-power charging at everyday retail locations. For drivers, that means fewer adapters, more predictable stops, and a denser network just as electric vehicles become everyday transportation.
Tesla’s Austin Gigafactory is reportedly shifting to round-the-clock vehicle production through the end of 2026, according to longtime drone observer Joe Tegtmeyer.
In his November 2 update, Tegtmeyer, widely regarded as one of the most reliable independent sources on Giga Texas activity (we call him the Drone GOAT), stated that the plant has added a night shift, creating two 12-hour production shifts.
Tegtmeyer said in his video:
“Now, I do have some interesting news about that when it comes to the production schedule here at Giga Texas, and things are actually looking pretty good, especially when you think about what the demand is and the delivery numbers that they’re looking for and what they’re expecting. So, normally they have shifts Monday through Friday. It’s a day shift and it’s about 10 hours long or so, give or take. But now they’re on day and night shifts and they’re going to 12-hour days. So they’re going to be adding or they have another shift. They have 12 hours for both of them. In addition to that, the typical downtime that we’re going to be seeing around the holidays, specifically Thanksgiving and Christmas to the New Year time frame is actually changed. And we’re not going to see those big several day events where there is no production. At least that’s what the plan is right now. So, it’s really a great sign, I think, when we consider what they’ve done in the past and what production and the deliveries have been so far. So, maybe it’s shaping up to be a really strong quarter.”
Previously, General Assembly typically operated on a single roughly 10-hour day shift, Monday through Thursday or Friday. The new arrangement keeps General Assembly on its Monday-to-Thursday schedule while adding overnight capacity, and most other areas of the factory continue working the full week with some weekend activity.
Notably, the plant is also forgoing the multi-day shutdowns around Thanksgiving and the Christmas–New Year period that have occurred in prior years
Giga Texas currently builds the Model Y, the larger Model Y L, the Cybertruck, and the Cybercab robotaxi. Tesla has not confirmed the shift change or specified which lines will receive the extra output. Recent comments suggest Cybercab production has been constrained by the pace at which the Robotaxi fleet can absorb new vehicles, making the Model Y and Model Y L the more likely beneficiaries as the company works through order backlogs.
Tegtmeyer’s November 2 footage and commentary also highlighted broader site progress. Cortex 2 continues to expand, with additional compute coming online, a roughly 25 percent lengthening of the structure on the north end, and work on a third cooling plant.
The Boring Company tunnel site showed increased activity in the large launch pit, while the Advanced Technology Chip Fab (a SpaceX–Tesla joint R&D facility) continued steel superstructure and heavy truss installation, along with concrete pours.
The reported capacity increase arrives as Tesla aims for a strong fourth quarter following solid third-quarter results. While unconfirmed by the company, the information aligns with Tegtmeyer’s consistent track record of accurate on-site observations.
If Tesla makes the decision to sustain the all-day production plans, the dual 12-hour shifts would meaningfully raise weekly output potential at one of Tesla’s most important manufacturing hubs.
SpaceX’s next Starship flight set to make history on Friday the 13th
EVgo taps Tesla Superchargers for mass charging expansion
