On 2011-06-22, george wrote:
They'd come under the heading of toys.
No crosscountry range, a useless rating and a constant changing of
battery packs.

As things improve, electric aircraft may make for a great glider
towplane! Less noise for the neighbours to whine about, less concern
with cooking the engine on climbout and cooling the engine excessively
on descent, lower maintenance with far fewer moving parts.
Electric propulsion also would be good for a self-launching motorglider,
lower complexity, battery pack doesn't need to be all that big since
you only need power for perhaps 10 minutes (5 minutes to launch,
perhaps keep 5 minutes in hand just in case you need a second attempt
to find lift).

Of course, the Wright's first aircraft wasn't all that useful, but
with development it became useful. Battery and motor control technology
is improving. The electric aircraft will almost certainly remain a niche
aircraft for some time to come, but I wouldn't write it off forever.