It's a game changer for airlines such as Harbour Air in British Columbia and Mokulele Airlines in Hawaii. These are small regional airlines which operate from the water or from small airports with flight times usually less than an hour, and most of their operational expenditures are in fuel costs. Typically for these airlines you show up 15 minutes before the flight and there is no security screening, so it's very hassle free.
Think of what it could do in other areas as well too though. Imagine a flight from the SF waterfront to Tahoe via seaplane in 45 minutes (instead of 4+ hours) with no TSA screening, or potentially even SF to LA in 90 minutes.
Unfortunately the battery weight is also currently prohibitive for small companies such as Harbour Air and Mokulele.
Several weeks before the Harbour Air / MagniX announcement I ran through an exercise to determine the range/payload of an electric Cessna 208 (Caravan) for a typical flight profile here in the bay area: the daily FedEx flight from Oakland International to some nearby city, such as Petaluma. This involves a 5min climb from take-off to 2000ft, some period of cruise flight (ultimately determined by range), and a 7min decent to land.
This calculation assumes that the C208 swaps the swaps its turbine (PT6A-114A) for the Magni500, saving 85lbs. It also accounts for the substantial increase in conversion efficiency between the MagniX and PT6 (roughly 0.94 from 0.32). Not accounted for are any differences in aircraft systems (de-ice, prop pitch, electric instruments, plumbing, etc).
The results are not surprising given what others have noted about the enormous difference between the specific energy densities of Jet A and LIB. At the specific energy density of today's production batteries, 250 w-hr/kg, the electric C208 could carry one 175lb pilot approximately 100mi in 39min. Due to FAA VFR regulations, this would in reality limit the flight to 9min (FAA requires daytime reserve of 30min), with the subsequent loss in range.
Let's consider the putative solid state battery at 500 w-hr/kg. Now a 60min flight time (really 30min plus 30min reserve) will allow 1080lb payload. Fantastic! That's a pilot plus 4-5 passengers. The catch, of course, is that the timeline for road worthy SS batteries is 5-10 years. How long for before an air worthy battery is available?
With this information parsing the press statements is a little easier. Will the Harbour Air / MagniX Beaver carry 6 passengers over a 30min flight? No. It may demonstrate electric flight of a utility category air frame with the pilot as the "soul" payload. After that both companies will likely be in the same position as the rest of us -- waiting on better battery technology.
Think of what it could do in other areas as well too though. Imagine a flight from the SF waterfront to Tahoe via seaplane in 45 minutes (instead of 4+ hours) with no TSA screening, or potentially even SF to LA in 90 minutes.