Current market offerings of UAVs currently only offer around a max of 30 min battery life. When I get the question of "how long do the batteries last?" I respond with a mere 28 mins. The surprise on everyones' faces is near shock to hear that such expensive tools offer would such little run time.
Yes it is a little.. Embarrassing, but understandable considering the tech in most drones that are all running simultaneously. From tech like camera and gimbal, vision positioning, IMU and compass, GPS, radio signal, wifi, data recording, motors, obstacle avoidance and much more, it is easy to see why batteries don't last. Most say go larger in size but that runs into the problem of flight and how weight changes the performance of a UAV. The real solution is finding more efficient batteries.
Meanwhile in China...
MMC a well known leader in the drone tech world has shown a newer gen of their battery tech: Hydrogen fuel cell. Otherwise known as the H-1 fuel cell. Capable of increasing flights to 4 hours in UAVs. A huge advantage over current LiPo offerings.
Two or even one set of cells would be enough for a single days work. With such lengthy flight times, pilots can even rest easy doing work that relies on longer distances/heights. Giving plenty of time for the fly out, work and flying back in. Even film shoots that require multiple shots and rapid do overs, it would become a lot less stress free knowing your flights will last the duration.
More reliable cells
H-1 fuel cell batteries are much more efficient in harsher weather types, such as extreme cold (-10 Celsius) without energy drain like LiPos do. While smart LiPo batteries like the inspire 2 that have self heating tech to prevent energy drain during colder flights, that is energy that could be used for longer flight time.
In the end LiPos can only be improved so much. Time would be much better spent finding more efficient energy cells, which the MMC is proving to be on top of. Currently though, offerings haven't left industrial, but hopefully soon commercial drones (like dji) will pick up these new cells.
Both images/gifs used here are my own except Hydrogen Cell Diagram which the source is here. Until next time!