FURTHER READING.

Assessment of the R&D Needs for Electric Aviation

By the Department of Energy, NASA and Argonne National Laboratory

* Startups--along with some very big companies--are investing in all-electric aviation, with concepts such as small personal commuter aircraft and air taxis at the forefront of potential applications.

The Air Force is also exploring how this emerging dual-use technology can benefit it with its Agility Prime "flying car" experiments.

A few months before the pandemic struck, Argonne National Laboratory gathered some 100 experts at its Illinois campus to discuss what exactly will be needed to make the vision of urban skies full of electric aircraft a reality.

Whether or not these systems will fly depends on energy--specifically batteries. The experts laid out a roadmap, breaking down the battery needs with the types of aircraft envisioned.

It looked at a spectrum of aircraft sizes--from the vertical-take-off-and-landing class intended for urban mobility and just a couple of passengers--all the way...