Hydrogen / Battery Aviation Range Calculator
Compare how far the same mass of jet fuel, liquid hydrogen, or battery would carry an aircraft, once drivetrain efficiency is taken into account.
Energy stored, then energy used
Range comes down to two competing quantities: how much usable energy an aircraft can carry, and how much it spends to travel each kilometre. Batteries are wonderfully efficient at delivering their energy but carry so little of it that they suit only short regional hops. Hydrogen carries a great deal by weight, which is why it is the leading candidate for longer zero-carbon flight — if the tank problem can be solved.
This calculator pairs naturally with the Fuel Energy Content Comparison tool, which explains the specific-energy figures that drive these range estimates.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is range estimated?
The tool multiplies the on-board mass by each carrier's specific energy to get the stored energy, multiplies that by a drivetrain efficiency to get usable energy, and divides by the energy the aircraft consumes per kilometre. In short: usable energy divided by energy-per-km equals range. It is a first-principles estimate that captures why carriers differ, not a performance model of a specific aircraft.
Why does each carrier use a different efficiency?
Different powertrains convert stored energy to thrust with very different effectiveness. A gas turbine burning jet fuel turns roughly 40% of the fuel's energy into useful work; a hydrogen fuel cell feeding an electric motor manages around 55%; and a battery-electric drivetrain is about 90% efficient because it skips combustion entirely. The tool applies a representative figure for each so the comparison is fair.
If batteries are so efficient, why is their range so short?
Efficiency is only half the story — the other half is how much energy is stored to begin with. A battery holds around 45 to 50 times less energy per kilogram than jet fuel, so even at 90% efficiency the usable energy from the same mass is tiny. Multiply a small number by a high efficiency and it is still a small number, which is why battery range collapses next to fuel and hydrogen.
Does this account for tank weight and volume?
No, and that is an important simplification. Liquid hydrogen looks excellent here because it stores so much energy per kilogram, but it needs large, heavy, insulated cryogenic tanks that this model ignores. Treat the hydrogen result as an optimistic upper bound, and see the Fuel Energy Content Comparison calculator for why volume is the harder problem.
Educational estimate only. A first-principles model that ignores tank weight and volume, reserves, and real flight profiles; treat results as illustrative, not operational.