A battery fire is a scary prospect unless the fire can be effectively contained and the hot gases vented (I don't suppose extinguishing one is likely to be an option.) There has been at least one crash involving fire, though I have not been able to find out if it was a propulsion battery fire. [1]
In Eviation's Alice, the failure or shutdown of one of the wingtip's motors would require the shutdown of the other, on account of asymmetric thrust. It can be flown on the rear motor alone, but I do not know how well it would climb in the case of a motor failure on takeoff. Maybe an EE can step in and say whether electric motors can be over-powered for relatively short durations (in this case, a few minutes to return to the airfield) without much increase in the risk of it failing?
BTW, I see that this prototype is a tail-dragger, though rendered images show a tricycle gear.
In Eviation's Alice, the failure or shutdown of one of the wingtip's motors would require the shutdown of the other, on account of asymmetric thrust. It can be flown on the rear motor alone, but I do not know how well it would climb in the case of a motor failure on takeoff. Maybe an EE can step in and say whether electric motors can be over-powered for relatively short durations (in this case, a few minutes to return to the airfield) without much increase in the risk of it failing?
BTW, I see that this prototype is a tail-dragger, though rendered images show a tricycle gear.
[1] https://electrek.co/2018/06/04/siemens-electric-plane-protot...