I think electric aircraft are – and still will be for some time, in a “because we can” state of mind. Anyone buying them also need to be in that state. No one needs a Spitfire, it is a very unpractical aircraft, unless you wanted to defend your country 70 years ago. But if I had 2 million € I didn’t know were to spend… You don’t bye an electric aircraft to fly around the world or any other “mission”, you buy it because you cannot resist.
Tesla and their founder are investing in an enormous way in a battery plant. I think the battery plant may be a bigger business than Tesla as the market takes off
If their quality of batteries are as poor as the quality of their cars, then that business will very soon become tiny. Tesla has shown what is possible with today’s technology, and their cars really has some punch and look cool, but they sound like a tin cans and feels like a tin cans. Besides, the BMW e3 is already a much more advanced car than any Tesla, and of course the e-up is much cooler than all of them 
You can’t seriously compare the e-up with the Tesla Model S. The VW offering is tiny and has a range less than half of the Tesla. The BMW i3 has interesting technology, but to say it’s more advanced than the Tesla is unrealistic. It’s a different car based on a different market segment, again with a shorter range.
I am not allowed to say too much about Tesla’s sales, but they are continuing to ramp up weekly production volumes, so I don’t understand why you think the car business will “soon become very tiny”, because it is the car business that will underpin the battery business.
Your comments about the reasons we buy aeroplanes is basically correct and extends to most GA types, and holds true probably up to and including Gulfstream 650s
Series production of http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/Report-China-To-Start-Electric-Airplane-Production223133-1.html aircraft to start in China.
Still puzzles me why Airbus does that but it’s great news!
So while the TB20 has a 1980 Renault dashboard, we will now get a 2015 Renault dashboard?
The 2015 Renault dashboard design has already been taken over by Mooney 
…
That red matches somebody’s nail varnish!
So while the TB20 has a 1980 Renault dashboard
Very funny
Not really Actually the most recent TB20 panel is a really good design – good to fly with and good to work on.
The TB20 panel would actually look a bit weird with a G1000 (if not outright infeasible?) due to the centre stack pillar.
Incidentally, I flew a friends’ TBM900 last weekend – highly impressive. Socata’s implemented a very streamlined panel, greatly supporting single pilot ops.
A classical steam panel of an old King Air just boggles the mind…
[images fixed – as is often the case, the site hosting the originals does not allow remote linking, so it’s always best to download them and use the drag/drop upload we have here]
Yes, the TB panel would not support a G1000. It would need a complete redesign.
Still puzzles me why Airbus does that
I would think the infrastructure at Airbus is honed to design and produce airliners, not small GA aircraft. The twin fans puzzles me more. The more I think about it, the more it seems like an incredibly stupid choice. It looks very cool, but the efficiency must be terrible compared to a single propeller mounted in front?
