Beta Technologies charger in operation. (Courtesy photo)
George Harvey
Electric aircraft have been in the news for years. For the most part, they have just one tiny problem, which is that they tend to stay in the news. For the most part, big promises have not yet been fulfilled, though they may yet come. It is almost enough to make one wonder whether a dirigible might be the best approach to electric aircraft, after all. Almost.
One of the leading manufacturers in electric aviation, Beta Technologies (Beta), is making a pair of electric aircraft models, along with the charging equipment they use. Beta has its headquarters in Burlington, Vermont, and is quite familiar with use of electric aircraft in small, regional airports. It has put its chargers at several regional airports, where they can charge batteries for both aircraft and ground support vehicles. Now, it is starting to install chargers at larger sites. Its first major airport is Manchester-Boston Regional Airport (MHT), which is in Manchester, New Hampshire.
Beta came into being in 2017. By May 2018, it had a concept vehicle it could test in tethered flight. In 2019, it started appearing in the news, and its Ava XC was the heaviest electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle (eVTOL) ever to fly. It started building both eVTOL aircraft and electric conventional takeoff and landing aircraft, which it calls “eCTOL” vehicles, along with charging equipment, and by May 2022, it was able to fly its eVTOL ALIA-250 from New York State to Arkansas, with stops to recharge the battery.
In that time, Beta has got interest from several companies, including UPS, and from both the Army and the Air Force. It has many contracts, and it has grown to the point that it has several hundred employees.
Recently, Beta entered a deal with Signature Aviation, a company whose origin goes back to 1879, but which made a start in aviation during World War II. Now, Signature is an aviation services company with its head office in Orlando, Florida.
One charger has already been installed at MHT. It is to be followed with more rather soon. Airports in Virginia and North Carolina have been chosen to be the next two, but others will doubtless soon follow in other places. Beta has already installed chargers at nineteen locations, with the Manchester airport its largest to date. Signature Aviation has other sites in mind and is likely to contract for more.
The chargers are helping answer the “chicken-and-egg” problem facing electric aviation: How do you get electric aviation running when there are no chargers, and how do you install chargers when there are no aircraft to make use of them? Beta’s answer is to install the chargers and bring on the aircraft together. We might also remember that the chargers will work with electric support ground vehicles. We should also note that Beta’s chargers are designed to be compatible with international charging standards.
Commercial air transportation accounts for about 3% of our greenhouse gas emissions. In the U.S., on a per-passenger-mile basis, air transportation emits about seven times as much greenhouse gases as rail. By comparison, using the same metric, automobiles emit about five times as much greenhouse gases as rail.
Short-haul flights are becoming increasingly important for moving both people and goods, and this means that electric aviation is becoming both more important and more feasible. Major reductions in greenhouse gas emissions would seem to be very achievable for many circumstances.
Beta Technologies’ website is www.beta.team.
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