Why Electric Planes Are Almost Impossible

Electric cars took decades to go mainstream — electric planes might take even longer. We flew in BETA Technologies’ Alia CX300, one of the most promising electric aircraft in the world, to find out why battery-powered flight has stayed almost impossible for more than 50 years.

The aviation industry has burned through more than $20 billion with barely a working commercial product to show for it — Zunum Aero, Eviation, and Lilium all collapsed after raising serious money.