Beta Technologies on building electric aircraft | Alia-250 and CX300

Beta Technologies, in its current form, started as a consulting company building propulsion systems for other aerospace companies. We quickly learned that designing an electric aircraft is a holistic process. You had to incorporate, obviously, high energy density batteries, high power density motors, but you had to think about the incorporation and the integration and think like a system. When we realized that that was very important, we started designing our own aircraft, chargers, control systems, and integration of that propulsion system. We started with our first aircraft called AVA, which was an eight-rotor thrust-vectoring liquid-cooled aircraft. And we learned quickly what not to do in an eVTOL aircraft. We had 100 safe test flights manned with that aircraft. We took the learnings from that, we shifted, and we designed an aircraft that we believe is a commercially viable aircraft with an intent to certify the aircraft, and we called that ALEA. We have an Experimental Research and Development Certificate, but also a Market Survey Certificate. So that allows us the opportunity to fly the aircraft outside of our local flight test area here at Plattsburgh Air Force Base. So we've deployed the aircraft all the way out to Bentonville, Arkansas, as part of the Transport Up Conference, hopping along the way, going through our operational charging network. We've also been out and back to Louisville, where UPS Whirlport Headquarters is at, one of our customers. During the Department of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg's visit there. I think what it says about our aircraft and the technology is the confidence that's been placed in us by the FAA and by the regulatory environment that allows us to fly this aircraft in and amongst some of the most complex airspace in the country. We're in and out of Class Bravo airspace, Class Charlie airspace, flying at altitudes and airspeeds at air traffic controller discretion. It's been a super successful flight test campaign so far. The advantage of electric propulsion is that on day one, you get a high-performance motor, and on the last day of this motor's life, you're going to maintain the same performance. This is a game-changer compared to combustion engines, which over time, their performance and their efficiency reduces. The other second big advantage is that the maintenance on electric propulsion is going to be very limited, and then the operation costs are significantly lower as well. Just an example, if we fly 200 nautical miles with our aircraft, it's about $15 to $17 of electricity, whereas on a Cessna Caravan, for example, the same distance would probably be between $600 and $800 of jet fuel. So not only it's great for the environment, because our solution is very sustainable and green, it's also going to be great for the wallets. Beta has developed the Charge Cube specifically to focus on electric aviation, but also interoperability for multimodal charging. To us, that means the product's designed to really shine for the use in electric aviation, but also works with other vehicles like delivery vans, buses, and trucks for our customers who are electrifying not only their aircraft, but also their ground fleets. The Charge Cube solves a number of problems that standard chargers have, such as the standard chargers are typically too tall to use with aircraft, and their cable reach is too short. So Charge Cube is a much shorter form factor with a 50-foot cable that's really optimized for use with electric aircraft. Mother Nature's rules are fixed, and our technological progress continues to increase. And we have a closing equation right now. So it's been an amazing run, but we're just getting started. We have a lot of real work to do. I mean, fundamentally, we haven't done anything. Nobody's saved an ounce of fuel by moving a pint of blood between the hospital on our aircraft yet, or an organ, or a package. It won't be long, but when we get there, I'll say that's our first win. And then we do that, and we see more Alias flying than turbine aircraft, then that will be a definite win.