Apparently a small company that specializes in eco-friendly solutions is already taxiing an electrically powered 172. Anticipate the same issues as with other all-electric airplanes: weight and range. The good news is that they are starting with a proven airframe, so they can focus on the propulsion system.
The bad news is that they are starting with a proven airframe, so it will be hard to optimize performance. It looks like the electric 172 will be a dedicated trainer. That would make sense: pull out the back seat and use the extra payload for enough batteries to give you a reasonable training sortie. Guess we'll see...
http://aero-news.net/index.cfm?do=main.textpost&id=7aae9343-ae7e-40f8-a15d-8233643e87b4
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