The electric plane Alice has flown for the first time. The hope is that the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will approve it as the world's first commercial battery-powered passenger aircraft, writes The Seattle Times.

The test flight was modest; Alice spent eight minutes in the air above Moses Lake in Washington state on Tuesday. And the plane isn't meant to compete with aviation heavyweights, seating only eleven people, including up to two pilots.

There is competition in several parts of the world, including Australia and Sweden. For example, the company Heart Aerospace is investing in building electric aircraft in Gothenburg. However, the first model, the ES-30, will be a hybrid with both batteries and liquid fuel.

Source: TT