UPS unveils plans to buy electric vertical-takeoff aircraft

UPS and its UPS Flight Forward subsidiary has unveiled plans to buy electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft from Beta Technologies (BETA) capable of carrying cargo payloads of up to 600kg, to augment its air service for select small and mid-size markets.

The first ten BETA aircraft are scheduled to begin arriving in 2024, with an option to purchase up to 150 of the aircraft. The sustainable electric-powered aircraft can charge in an hour or less, and produces zero operational emissions, UPS highlighted. 

BETA’s aircraft are designed to someday operate autonomously as technologies and regulations are established, but they will initially use human pilot operators.

Last month, BETA advanced to the next phase of flight testing, completing an interstate flight from its Plattsburgh, NY test facility to its Burlington, Vt. headquarters. In accordance with FAA protocols for experimental aircraft to fly beyond its home airport, BETA had to complete rigorous testing to ensure reliable and predictable behavior of the aircraft. In the same week, the company set a new personal-best in range while also reaching 8,000 feet in altitude.

UPS said these aircraft will take off and land on-property at UPS facilities “in a whisper-quiet fashion, reducing time-in-transit, vehicle emissions, and operating cost”.

UPS said the BETA aircraft’s 1,400-pound (600kg) cargo capacity “is ideally suited to more quickly and sustainably transport time-sensitive deliveries that would otherwise fly on small fixed-wing aircraft”, stating that its use of the aircraft “will benefit healthcare providers, thousands of small and medium-sized businesses, and other companies in smaller communities”.

With a 250-mile (400km) range and cruising speed of up to 170 miles per hour (270km/h), UPS said it “will be able to plan a series of short routes, or one long route, on a single charge to meet customers’ needs”.

UPS Flight Forward received the first US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Part 135 Standard air carrier certification to operate a drone airline, and is operating daily revenue-generating flights with drones. The FAA certification also enables UPS Flight Forward to fly payloads of up to 7,500 lbs. either with an operator or autonomously. 

UPS Chief Information and Engineering Officer Juan Perez commented: “These new aircraft will create operational efficiencies in our business, open possibilities for new services, and serve as a foundation for future solutions to reduce the emissions profile of our air and ground operation. This is all about innovation with a focus on returns for our business, our customers, and the environment.”

It said the aviation industry was “focusing on small aircraft, which UPS uses to serve many small and medium-sized communities, to develop groundbreaking, sustainable electric-powered aircraft”. BETA’s aircraft has four fixed vertical lift propellers and one pusher propeller for forward flight. It can charge in an hour or less, and produces zero operational emissions.

BETA founder and CEO Kyle Clark commented: “We’re combining simple, elegant design and advanced technology to create a reliable aircraft with zero operational emissions that will revolutionize how cargo moves. By utilizing vertical takeoffs and landings, we can turn relatively small spaces at existing UPS facilities into a micro air feeder network without the noise or operating emissions of traditional aircraft.”

UPS said it had also “reserved BETA’s recharging station for a seamless and fully integrated electric aviation system. The BETA charging station helps ensure safe and rapid charging of the aircraft in under one hour, and facilitates a quick turn for the loading and unloading of cargo”.

It said the charging station also offers the aircraft’s batteries a second life cycle. After the batteries’ first life cycle in the aircraft concludes, they can be fitted to the charging stations to recharge the aircraft’s onboard batteries as well as UPS’s fleet of electric ground vehicles.

UPS currently operates more than 12,000 alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicles, and announced a commitment to purchase up to 10,000 Arrival electric vehicles.