Utah Is Where Electric Planes From BETA Whisper Sweet Nothings to Traffic Jams
Image Credit: BETA Technologies.
One minute, you're stuck in a traffic jam; the next, you're soaring above it all. That's exactly the future BETA Technologies is cooking up. These whiz kids from Vermont have been busy bees. They've got this snazzy little number called the ALIA eCTOL, an electric plane that's as quiet as a church mouse and as green as a freshly mowed lawn. And now they've been buzzing around Utah, showing off their electric bird's fancy footwork. And by footwork, I mean wingwork!
It isn’t BETA’s first step in electric flying - remember the ALIA eVTOL? That beaut is the vertical-takeoff sister of this ALIA, which is the “electric Classic Take Off and Landing” aeroplane. Same plane, but two different ways of getting up and going. How clever.
But, you know me, I'm always a bit skeptical. Electric cars and motorcycles? I have no issues with that? But electric planes? That's an entirely different pair of boots. But these BETA folks, they've done their homework. They've flown this winged beauty over 350 miles, hitting six airports in Utah: Salt Lake City, Provo, Heber City, Logan-Cache Valley, Ogden, and Vernal. No hiccups, no emergencies - just plain sailing. I mean - flying.
BETA claims their electric ALIA cuts travel time by two-thirds compared to driving. That's literally turning a three-hour slog into a one-hour joyride. You could be sipping a latte in Salt Lake City, and then, poof, you're in Provo before your foam art melts.
Image Credit: BETA Technologies.
The ALIA eCTOL can carry five passengers or 1,250 pounds of cargo. That's a small family and their luggage, or a whole lot of… well, whatever you need to haul! The ALIA is aiming for commercial flights by the end of 2025, with the first production-ready model doing all the demo flying right now. They are also working on a charging network for these electric beauties.
Utah's all in on this, too. They're planning to use these electric planes for medical emergencies, which is just brilliant - a flying ambulance, zipping through the air to save lives. And they're aiming to have this all set up by the 2034 Winter Olympics.
Image Credit: BETA Technologies.
The idea of a quiet, electric plane is just cool. No more noisy engines drowning out my favorite tunes. Just the gentle hum of electric power. Actually, not that gentle but still - way, way quieter than conventional flying. And it turns out that BETA is working on pilot training programs, too. If you've ever dreamed of being a pilot, now's your chance to fly something that's good for the planet. You'll be a superhero, but with less spandex.
The future of flight, where traffic jams are a distant memory and electric planes rule the skies, is no longer a distant dream. It is happening right now, and it is happening in Utah - out of all places. Can you believe it? Electric planes are taking to the sky.
