Beta Technologies, a fully integrated electric aviation system developer based in Vermont, has announced plans to produce and certify its CX300 fixed-wing electric plane. The CX300 has already flown over 22,000 test miles and undergone evaluation flights for FAA certification. Beta Technologies is unique in testing two prototypes simultaneously to capture twice as much performance data at once, focusing on both hovering and wing-borne flight.
Beta Technologies has opened up orders for its fixed-wing electric plane alongside an operation and certification path already in place. The company intends to certify its CX300 fixed-wing electric plane for customer use and expects to do so in the next two years, opening its order books to customers who are already locking in their reservations.
The CX300 is the only electric aircraft to have flown through Class B and C airspace – the busiest in the US. It has also completed the longest series of real-world flights in an electric plane, flying more than 2,000 nautical miles from Plattsburgh, New York, to Bentonville, Arkansas, charging using its own infrastructure along its journey west.
Beta Technologies applied for Type Certification with the FAA last year and is now targeting 2025 as the expected timeline for approval, followed by its first electric plane deliveries to companies. That includes new and current customers, like Bristow, which made a deposit-backed order for 50 CX300s with the option for 55 more, and Air New Zealand, which confirmed three eCTOLs with the option to purchase 20 more.
The fixed-wing electric plane’s airframe, batteries, propulsion, and systems are the same as the ALIA-250 eVTOL, which is already advancing through the FAA certification process. As a result, the company expects certification to go smoothly.
The CX300 flies through conventional takeoff and landing methods, which the Beta team believes can be certified under the FAA’s existing rules for airplanes more quickly compared to nontraditional eVTOLs. Beta founder and CEO Kyle Clark said, “With its known certification and operational path, this aircraft represents an opportunity to get electric aviation into the market and into the hands of our customers as quickly as possible.”
Looking ahead, Beta Technologies says it will continue the design and certification of the eCTOL electric plane alongside the ALIA-250 eVTOL while it puts the finishing touches on a new production facility in Vermont, where it intends to conduct final assembly. That facility remains on track to begin manufacturing this summer.
The eCTOLs could serve aviation companies as all-electric air taxis that can transport passengers and goods across shorter distances, achieving up to 386 miles in the current CX300 prototypes. Final range numbers in the production eCTOLs remain unclear at this time.