Signature Aviation and BETA Technologies have teamed up to install electric charging infrastructure at airports along the eastern seaboard.
The partnership was announced in a March 7 press release noting that the global fixed-based operator (FBO) and electric aerospace company have already installed the first charging station at Manchester-Boston Regional Airport with plans underway for two more locations.
“Manchester is emerging as one of the top high-tech hubs in the Northeast, and we are honored that Manchester-Boston Regional Airport was chosen as Signature and BETA’s first operational electric aviation site,” said MHT Airport Director Ted Kitchens, A.A.E. “This interoperable charging station will help enable Manchester and southern New Hampshire to have better access to electric aviation, which will bring us better regional air mobility as we move into this exciting new era of electric transportation.”
According to the joint press release, BETA’s chargers are engineered using a global standard—meaning they are compatible to BETA’s own all-electric aircraft, other manufacturers’ electric aircraft, and ground-based electric vehicles.
Additional chargers are set to be installed at Frederick Municipal Airport (KFDK) and Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport (KCHO) in Virginia, where they are expected to be operational this summer.
The addition of the three East Coast airports further expands BETA’s charging network in the United States, as the company now has chargers at 19 locations with another 50 sites in various stages of permitting and construction.
Although electric airplanes aren’t zooming around like electric cars yet, widespread electric air travel remains a question mark due to battery limitations. However, the charging infrastructure sprouting on the Eastern Seaboard is a smart move. These stations, with their handy dual functionality for electric vehicles, position these airports as pioneers for the future when electric aviation takes flight. The ability to also charge cars justifies the investment now. I think. 🤔🤔🤔
Yea, kind of like building gas stations where there are no cars. I’m in on it.👍
That, and consider a Saturday fly-in of EV airplanes.
How many days will it take to charge 25-30 planes so that they can get home?
I don’t believe the hype of “electric airplanes”–though you can hardly open an aviation magazine without the hype of them being “right around the corner”–and the same hype involved the applause for electric cars and trucks. HOWEVER–I agree with RAF that if there WERE to be a demonstration project, they were right and prescient in including electric ground vehicles, chargers, and cars in the mix–they will be possibly useful even if the prediction for hordes of “electric airplanes” falls short of predictions–as electric auto sales have.
Wait,
These are the same FBO’s that could not afford to add a simple 94UL pump (or non-ethanol MoGas) for existing small training type planes at the field?
Good point, Art. So one group of people are worried about lead in our avgas, others are moaning about airplane noise and another are still clinging to the electric flight pipedream. Must be something in the water ?
Yea, there has been no money to support existing smaller piston planes, but now there seems to be 10x the money available for installing stations for non-existent small planes. Go figure.
Nothing in the water, just 248 years of groups wanting this or that and the group with the most money and influence wins. Same story, different day.
If you build it, they will come???
Great. Lovely. Now where’s the 100UL?
I’d bet $100 this is being funded solely through some taxpayer-funded grant. There is no market for battery airplanes, eVTOLS, or even EV cars, for that matter. What a waste. Those same GA FBOs should have installed inexpensive, self-serve Mogas fuel systems 30 years ago, if they really wanted to have an impact on lowering the cost of flying and reducing our use of leaded fuel.
Regarding your “no market for EV cars” comment: in 2023, Tesla sold a total of 1,211,285 Model Y cars globally with the Toyota Corolla and RAV4 coming in second and third, respectively. Airport charging stations are built with public and private funds, with all of the R&D (the expensive parts) having been funded entirely in the private markets. Now fact check the remainder of your incorrect and misleading statements and let us know what you learned. You can keep the $100 for now.
Marc, this is a colossal waste considering that there is no standard charging solution for future aircraft battery systems. Ken is correct that small plane specific “fueling” has been ignored for 30 years and small planes were relegated to be second class behind jets and the large piston aircraft. Although it (should) be obvious, cars are not airplanes. What we do see in the car market is that Ford, GM, VW, etc, are not selling and considering dropping EV production.
Cars indeed aren’t airplanes Art, but they can share a charging system. US car makers have adopted Tesla’s NACS system given its ubiquity and their failure to create a charging grid. I have seen an EVTOL charger on a ramp which served both Joby EVTOLS and EV cars. Rejection of EVs created by the legacy US automakers is a function of quality, price, charging issues and politics. The UAW believes EVs spell their demise, which is true. 50K of the Electric F150 price is attributable to the ridiculous terms the UAW has negotiated with Ford. US Energy Sec Jennifer Granholm attempted a demonstration cross country in an EF150 in May 2023 and bagged it in Georgia due to charging issues. Biden would be trying to legislate an electric vehicle into your driveway if it could be done without promoting Tesla. I’ve never had a problem finding 100LL in the US for my ICE plane.
MHT is a curious choice for this sort of thing. MHT airport management pushed GA out the best they could years ago, and hardly any GA operates out of MHT. This reeks of wasting taxpayer dollars.
Yeah KP, but just think how cool and trendy the airports marketing material will look when they boast about their GREEN initiative.
Ironically, the big commercial airports mostly already have EV infrastructure, because a lot of the ground support equipment (baggage tugs, pushback trucks) are electric vehicles. It makes sense for those applications. They don’t need long range, they do need good torque.