Archer Aviation, a company specialising in electrical vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, has announced a collaboration with BETA Technologies for the roll-out of an interoperable fast-charging system across the electric aviation industry.
As part of the industry-first agreement, Archer has begun using two of BETA’s Charge Cube systems at its own flight test facilities, with a number of BETA’s Mini Cube mobile charging systems standing by for rapid deployment as needed.
The charging system utilises Combined Charging System (CCS) technology, a multimodal, interoperable standard employed by a range of original equipment manufacturers (OEM). The GAMA-endorsed system is peer-reviewed, operates under global certification standards and works in tandem with EUROCAE ED-308.
Adam Goldstein, Archer’s founder and CEO, commented:Fast charging is critical to ensure rapid turnaround times between flights. A widespread, fast charging system is critical to ensuring electric air taxis reach scale in the coming years and this collaboration between two industry leaders is an exciting step towards achieving that.
BETA’s charging systems are currently in use across 14 locations in the eastern US, with installations at a further 55 locations along the East and Gulf Coasts in development.
Kyle Clark, BETA’s Founder and CEO, said:Over the past decade, transportation has shifted toward electric and now we’re seeing resonance and viability for aviation to do the same.
A backbone of reliable, fast and accessible infrastructure will be critical to enabling this technology, which is why we’ve been focused on building out a charging network alongside our aircraft for some time now. When we designed our chargers, we saw an opportunity to support the entire sector by using an already peer reviewed standard, and we’re thrilled to collaborate with Archer now to validate that aim.
Archer’s adoption of the BETA charging systems continues BETA’s network expansion along the east coast, with the company recently installing the first electric aircraft charger on a DoD installation at Duke Field, Eglin Air Force Base.
