Electric Vehicles

The Driven Podcast: From Solar Impulse to electric flight

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I remember watching in amazement at the online feed from Solar Impulse, the extraordinary plane powered only by the solar energy captured on the modules in its wings, as it cross the Pacific Ocean back in 2015, using the charge from the battery to stay in the air as it awaited the next sun rise.

André Borschberg was a co-pilot, with Bertrand Picard, on that historic round the world flight, and has now set up his own company H55, with some of the Solar Impulse team members. H55, named after the hangar they set themselves up in, specialises in electric propulsion systems, has a two-seater electric plane used for flight training, and is convinced that the future of flight is electric.

How and why? Borschberg joins The Driven podcast to explain the value of intra-city flights, vertical take off aircraft, and the shift to electric power in larger passenger planes.

You can discover other episodes of The Driven Podcast here, and on your favourite podcast platform. You can also catch up with Nigel and Giles on their regular Solar Insiders podcasts that you can find here.

ZeroMow is a proud sponsor of The Driven Podcast

Giles Parkinson is founder and editor-in-chief of Renew Economy, and founder and editor of its EV-focused sister site The Driven. He is the co-host of the weekly Energy Insiders Podcast. Giles has been a journalist for more than 40 years and is a former deputy editor of the Australian Financial Review. You can find him on LinkedIn and on Twitter.

Giles Parkinson

Giles Parkinson is founder and editor-in-chief of Renew Economy, and founder and editor of its EV-focused sister site The Driven. He is the co-host of the weekly Energy Insiders Podcast. Giles has been a journalist for more than 40 years and is a former deputy editor of the Australian Financial Review. You can find him on LinkedIn and on Twitter.

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