Electric Plane Receives $1.35-M Prize From NASA and Google

Electric Plane Receives $1.35-M Prize From NASA and Google

Electric plane made by Pipistrel-USA.com of State College earned the top prize in the CAFE Green Flight Challenge, sponsored by Google.

An electric plane made by Pipistrel-USA.com has won a $1.35 million top prize in the CAFE Green Flight Challenge, sponsored by Google and NASA.

Named the Pipistrel Taurus G4, developed and built in Slovenia, beats other 13 entrants for developing a highly efficient airplane power by electricity, in the two days competition held at the Sonoma County Airport in California.




Pipistrel Taurus G4, is a four-seat, twin-fuselage aircraft powered by a 145-kilowatt brushless electric motor. It managed to fly 200 miles in less than two hours while using less than a gallon of fuel per occupant or the equivalent in electricity.

The environmentally-friendly winning plane used a little more than a half-gallon of fuel per passenger for the 200-mile flight.

The eGenius team from Ramona, California took home the second place prize of $120,000.