BETA Technologies, an electric aerospace company manufacturing and certifying all-electric aircraft and enabling charging infrastructure, has been granted a $20 million multi-phase contract to work with the HHS’ Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) to develop a pilot program to evaluate next-generation mobility solutions and infrastructure as a means of powering public health preparedness.
Through this contract, BETA is installing electric aircraft chargers at locations determined to be important to increasing healthcare and emergency response operations along the East and Gulf Coasts.
Rural areas experience high morbidity and mortality rates due to lack of access to local health care. Air ambulances serve more than half a million patients every year, and continue to play a more and more important role in the healthcare landscape as rural hospitals continue to close in the U.S.
Current medical and emergency transportation and infrastructure systems are often limited by cost and weather. In fact, between 2014 and 2019, nearly 170 organs could not be transplanted and almost 370 were “near misses,” after delays of two hours or more due to issues with transport.
The reliability of electric propulsion and aircraft offer an opportunity for lower cost operation and higher usage rates as compared to many of the vehicles currently conducting medical transport.
BETA’s chargers will offer the infrastructure required to enable an Emergency Preparedness Platform (EPP) for HHS. Designed to be multimodal and interoperable, BETA’s chargers can support its own electric aircraft, other electric aircraft, and ground EVs. The already-online sites utilize grid-tied energy – as will the remaining sites in construction.
BETA’s charging infrastructure, and the air and ground vehicles it enables, will allow HHS to establish a sustainable, cost-effective network for delivering equipment, pharmaceuticals, and patients – even in more remote geographies.
With its lower operational costs and increased utility in all-weather conditions, electric aircraft will offer higher usage rates and fewer missed transport opportunities as compared to vehicles currently conducting medical transport.
This has the power to close the access gap in rural geographies and better position ASPR to respond rapidly to natural disasters or other public health emergencies.
“We expect this work with BETA to give ASPR and other federal partners the ability to get vital materials and equipment to ground zero when other land-based modes of transportation are unavailable,” said Arlene Joyner, director of ASPR’s Office of Industrial Base Management and Supply Chain (IBMSC).
“The past few years have highlighted just how critical reliable and sustainable medical transport and emergency preparedness are,” said Kyle Clark, BETA’s Founder and CEO.
“HHS and ASPR are on the front lines of these issues and we’re excited to be working with them on meaningful, capital-efficient solutions that benefit the public. We believe this work has the potential to increase access to healthcare and essential services for all types of geographies, including the historically harder-to-reach ones.”
Over the course of this partnership, BETA will bring 22 additional charge sites online. Chargers are already operational today, including in Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, and Arkansas – with more soon to follow.
These chargers will join the electric charging network BETA is currently building out across the U.S. In its effort to support the transition to electric transportation, BETA has brought 31 chargers online from Vermont to Florida to Arkansas, and has more than 50 additional sites in permitting or construction along the east and gulf coasts.
Similar to its electric aircraft, BETA’s chargers have been purchased by a diverse mix of customers, including the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. airports, other electric aircraft developers like Archer Aviation, and global fixed base operators such as Signature Aviation and Atlantic Aviation.
BETA is also manufacturing and certifying two models of all-electric, battery-powered aircraft. The company is progressing its electric fixed-wing (ALIA CTOL) and electric vertical takeoff and landing (ALIA VTOL), toward FAA certification, anticipating entry into service in 2025 and 2026, respectively. The company has begun to manufacture these aircraft at a nearly 200,000 sqft production facility in South Burlington, Vermont.
The growth of BETA’s charge network is designed to increase access as, with its reduced costs and emission reduction, electric aviation will unlock new mission sets that allow for more efficient cargo movement and ability to connect communities.
This press release was prepared and distributed by BETA Technologies.
