Archer Aviation, BETA and Macquarie Capital have collaborated to launch America’s Consortium for Electric Skyways (ACES), and have set a goal to electrify up to 250 air taxi sites at America’s largest airports and metro areas over the next decade.
The consortium’s current project is to expand interoperable electric aviation charging infrastructure in Texas at key facilities such as airports and FBOs (fixed-base operators, which provide support services to general aviation operators at public-use airports).
ACES plans to create a shared infrastructure model under which multiple operators can use the same chargers. This approach will enable infrastructure operators, OEMs and investors to join in building a unified network rather than competing proprietary charging systems.
The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is conducting pilots in cooperation with the FAA’s eVTOL Integration Pilot Program (eIPP), which is designed to accelerate the safe deployment of Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) vehicles in the National Airspace System.
ACES will collaborate with t TxDOT to identify locations where eVTOL operators expect to fly, and prepare the needed infrastructure. The agency has highlighted plans for regional test flights connecting the Texas Triangle (Dallas/Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio and Houston) and rural communities with air taxi networks. BETA, Archer and other OEMs plan to conduct electric air taxi test flights in Texas in the coming months.
“Texas is preparing the way for America to lead the world in commercializing the next generation of aviation technologies, and infrastructure is how that push becomes real,” said Adam Goldstein, founder and CEO of Archer. “ACES plans to put interoperable chargers where eIPP operations will take place, built on an open standard the whole industry can use. That’s the foundation Texas needs to set the region up for passenger air taxi flights across the Texas Triangle as part of the final phase of the Texas eIPP pilot.”
“Aircraft are only useful if you have the infrastructure in place to support them,” said Kyle Clark, founder and CEO of BETA Technologies. “ACES is about making sure that infrastructure is interoperable, reliable, and ready where operators need it. Texas gives us a great opportunity to put that work into practice alongside TxDOT and show how shared charging infrastructure can support real operations today.”
Source: Archer Aviation
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