E-racing takes to the skies: An exciting new race series could accelerate development of electric aircraft

SOME TIME next year at least eight and maybe as many as 16 light aircraft will line up on a runway and then take off together before flying an intense five-minute race involving four laps around a 5km circuit at speeds of up to 450km/h at a height of just 10m above the ground. But what will make the event unprecedented is that it will mark the start of a new series of contests called AirRaceE, in which all the aircraft will be powered solely by electric motors — the first time ever that form of propulsion will have been used in competitive aviation.