A Pipistrel Alpha Electro electric aircraft has been recharged using The Beam Company’s solar powered charging unit.
The Beam Company is a leading producer of infrastructure for the electrification of transport. It conducted the world’s first Flying on Sunshine flight in a Pipistrel production electric aircraft, powered completely by Beam’s EV ARC solar-powered charging unit delivering off-grid, sustainably generated, locally stored energy.
The world first maiden flight took place at Reedley Municipal Airport in Fresno County.
Beam CEO, Desmond Wheatley, said, “The electrification of transportation is taking to the skies, powered by Beam Global. With 40% of greenhouse gas emissions coming from transportation in California, it’s imperative to push the envelope in every form of mobility.
“Whether it has two, four or 18 wheels, a propeller or four rotors, Beam is developing sustainable solutions to deliver clean mobility to all. An important differentiator for us is that our products can charge any form of transportation, enabling us to take advantage of growth across this massive but diverse sector.”
The owner and pilot of the Pipistrel reported successfully charging his Alpha Electro along with a Tesla car and a Zero motorcycle, all at the same time with the Beam solar-powered portable EV charger.
The charging demonstration sets the stage for deployment of these units at strategic airports in the San Joaquin Valley to allow for longer cross-country flights, from locations such as Fresno to Sacramento. One of the goals of the demo was to show how the investment in charging infrastructure for electric ground-vehicles to support expansion of electric aircraft operations can be leveraged. Multiple EV ARCs can be connected to support up to a 50kW charger.
“It’s challenging to install charging infrastructure at regional airports,” said Joseph Oldham, President and CEO for New Vision Aviation. “Flying on Sunshine using these rapidly deployed, transportable changing units works for us because it allows for rapid deployment of electric aircraft charging support concurrent with electric ground vehicles. It can turn regional local airports into multi-modal zero-emission transportation hubs and reinvigorate underutilized airports here in the San Joaquin Valley, across the state and across the U.S.”
The Pipistrel electric aircraft are part of the Sustainable Aviation Project initiated by Oldham in partnership with the Cities of Reedley and Mendota and funded by Measure C through the Fresno County Transportation Authority (FCTA) New Technology Reserve Grant Program.
The EV ARC 2020 being used to power the Pipistrel is equipped with 2 Enel X JuiceBox Pro EV chargers and one 15kW aircraft charger and is capable of charging two vehicles and one electric plane. 100% solar-powered EV ARC units are off-grid so require no permitting, no construction, no electrical work and generate no utility bill.
A Flying on Sunshine™ memory from last week: The world-first maiden flight took place at #Reedley Municipal Airport in #Fresno County, #California with local officials present and Pilot Joseph Oldham at the controls. View more #Beaming photos below! https://t.co/mVoRQxV7UB
— BEAM (@BeamForAll) November 3, 2020