The BETA Technologies CX300 has already flown for 20,000 test miles
The Vermont-based manufacturer BETA Technologies has announced orders for their upcoming new aircraft, the BETA Technologies CX300 fixed-wing electric plane. The CX300 takes off and lands like a conventional plane and has already gone through evaluation flights for FAA certification.
BETA Technologies has spent years in developing EV variants of its aircrafts and recently shared details on their second aircraft joining their eVTOL line. The next step for the BETA Technologies CX300 fixed-wing electric plane, an electric conventional takeoff and landing (eCTOL) plane, is to get certified for customer use within the next two years.
The CX300 already has crossed multiple state lines within its test flights and completed qualitative evaluation flights with the Air Force and Army test pilots. BETA states that it is the only electric aircraft to have flown through Class B and C airspace, which is the most busy in the United States. In addition, it has accomplished the longest series of real-world flights, covering more than 2,000 nautical miles from Plattsburgh, New York, to Bentonville, Arkansas, while charging using its own infrastructure.
Last year, BETA submitted an application for Type Certification with the FAA, and are now aiming for 2025 as the date for certification, followed by the delivery of its first electric planes to companies. That includes both new and existing clients, such as Bristow and Air New Zealand.
With a range of up to 386 miles in the current BETA Technologies CX300 fixed-wing electric plane prototypes, the eCTOLs could be utilized as all-electric air taxis to transport people and products over shorter distances. At this moment, it is unclear what the production eCTOLs’ final range figures will be.