A pioneering electric plane developer has shelved development of its new craft after discovering that its batteries will only last a few hundred flights before they need to be replaced.

Italy’s Tecnam said it will stop making the P-volt aircraft since it cannot now hit a target of delivering the plane by 2026.

The speed at which the batteries would lose charge would erode the nine-passenger craft’s value, ruining its commercial prospects, it added.

The company will now wait for battery capacity and weight improvements which will allow the propeller-driven plane to be developed successfully at a later date.