Not yet, for the mission you may want
I know there many very talented people on this forum. Someone must have thought of putting a Tesla motor, inverter, controller, and batteries in an RV.
Just the motor, for example weights only 70 lbs and puts out 362 hp. Although it’s seems some of the numbers differ on the internet, they all are in the same ballpark. If Bye aircraft with their Eflyer 2 can fly for 3 1/2 hours , the Tesla setup
In an RV might be interesting?
Maybe someone has already suggested this, hope this isn’t a repeat.
Thanks
Chuck
I worked as Sr Engineering Manager for Powertrain at Tesla's Fremont plant in charge of all of the automation to build Model S/X modules, packs, small drive (SDU), large drive (LDU), chargers, center consoles, etc. I also worked in Manufacturing Engineering at Alta Motors doing powertrain as well as main line assembly before they closed their doors. I have more than a casual understanding of cylindrical cell lithium batteries and high power-density electric motors.
The numbers you quoted above are not correct, or at least a little misleading. None of the Tesla motors (M S/X LDU, SDU, or 3DU) weigh 70 pounds. Just the rotor and stator casing, perhaps. But once you add the two stage reduction units, inverters, and other required bits, they weigh considerably more than twice that. Close to 3x, actually. More for the LDU.
It is important to understand that at highway speed the motor in a Tesla (and pretty much any EV) is spinning relatively quickly. The reduction ratio on a Tesla two-stage gearbox is between 8.2 and 9.3:1, depending on the model. So while you are cruising down the highway at 60 MPH and your wheels are spinning at roughly 730 RPM, your motor is closer to 6800 RPM. You would need to accommodate some level of gear reduction to adapt a motor spinning that fast to a propeller. Also, you should understand that while horsepower numbers are fun to throw around, for an EV you will basically never actually attain that maximum value. As stated previously, the torque curve is basically flat from zero RPM. That means you do not actually achieve the headline horsepower value until very high RPM. So while the acceleration of an EV is incredible because the torque is available from a standstill, you are not actually feeling horsepower.
Next, the highest range Tesla Model S can achieve 402 miles per 100kWh pack. That means at 60 mph you are averaging just under 15kW. That translates to 20 HP. I cannot imagine actually flying along at max L/D for very long to keep the energy consumption down to a number close to that. Any increase in power is met with a proportional decrease in duration. In fact, the slope is worse than that because 18650 cells have lower total capacity ratings when you increase the C-rating discharge. Add to that that the power required to go faster on that side of the curve goes roughly cubically with airspeed. Things are getting worse very fast in terms of cruise speed and range now.
Next we can consider the mass of the battery. A single 18650 weighs right around 50grams. In a Tesla 100kWh pack you have 16*6*88 cells, or 8448 18650s, for just a cell mass of 930 pounds. On top of this you need the high current bus bars, wiring, cooling channels as associated fluid, pumps, etc. You have to have enough structure for the cells to not be compromised during G loads, as well as valves to deal with "thermal events" should your day go very, very poorly. You would be very lucky to get away with a final pack weight of 1000 pounds. Of course, you can reduce pack mass by reducing cells, which again increases the per-cell C-rate for a given load, so now you're back to trading mass for duration, and again you find yourself on the back side of the curve there.
At Alta we got away with significant weight savings by eliminating the fluid cooling system for the pack and using other thermal management techniques. This was to the detriment of overall cell lifespan, but for the use case of a high performance dirt bike, it was worth the tradeoff. We had a pack that was nominally 6kWh, and a motor capable of 40kW (53HP). Our pack alone was right around 65 pounds. But very few riders would pin the throttle and leave it there until the pack was empty, and we had thermal limiting to manage that if they tried.
This is not to say that electric aircraft are not happening. They are. The eVTOL category is full of vehicles that actually fly using these same technologies. They do so by managing the overall power profile over the duration of the flight very carefully, flying at max L/D for cruise at speeds that are in the neighborhood of 100mph, and have a total range of something less than 100 miles.
So, I think what you are asking for is going to happen sooner rather than later. But I do not think we are to a point where swapping powertrains on an E-AB and expecting Lycoming/Continental cruise speed and range is a thing.