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With electric aircraft developer Beta Technologies listing on the New York Stock Exchange on Nov. 4, the aviation industry is getting a better look at the company’s key business assumptions — and finding some of its projections around battery economics highly questionable.
The registration statement Beta filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission outlines four key revenue streams for the company: selling aircraft to military and commercial customers; selling replacement batteries to operators in the aftermarket; selling propulsion systems to other eVTOL manufacturers; and selling ground support equipment, primarily chargers. The company projects that its aftermarket business could generate as much as three times the revenue of its aircraft sales, with a typical electric aircraft requiring up to 20 sets of replacement batteries over 20 years, generating approximately $13 million in revenue per aircraft.
That’s a big pill for any aircraft operator to swallow, and some critics are skeptical that anyone will shell out $4 million for a range-limited electric aircraft with such high recurring costs. In an interview with The Air Current, however, Beta CEO Kyle Clark said that Beta’s customers aren’t looking at battery replacement costs in isolation, but are factoring them into the overall projected operating costs of the aircraft, which include the much lower cost of electricity compared to jet fuel and lower anticipated maintenance costs.
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