Talk:Beta Technologies

Edit request 9/25/23

Thank you for making the changes. I also noticed you removed the funding information from the Finances section. This is important information for readers because it shows the size and scope of the the company's business. Absent a dedicated funding section, I'd like to request that the information be placed chronologically in the history section. I rewrote it with better sourcing. The first paragraph would go in the middle of the sixth paragraph (In March 2021...), and the second item would go in the eighth paragraph after the current April 2022 item. Thank you. Willguisbond (talk) 14:49, 25 September 2023 (UTC)

In March 2021, the company raised $143 million in venture funding from undisclosed sources. In May 2021, the company raised $368 million in Series A financing, with Fidelity Management & Research leading the round alongside investors Redbird Capital and Amazon's Climate Pledge Fund.

In April 2022, BETA announced they had raised an additional $375 million in Series B financing led by TPG Rise Climate and Fidelity Management & Research alongside Amazon's Climate Pledge Fund.

References

Willguisbond (talk) 14:49, 25 September 2023 (UTC)

 Declined Both of these sources are based on press releases issued by the company:

1. techcrunch: "The new capital is the second round of funding announced by the company this year"
2. axios: "Beta Technologies, a Burlington, Vermont-based electric aviation company, announced the close of a $375 million Series B funding round on Wednesday"

Wikipedia prefers information that originates from reliable, secondary sourcing — not from information which originates from company press releases (regardless of who publishes it). Reliable sources which merely repeat company announced information is promotional in nature. Regards,  Spintendo  20:28, 25 September 2023 (UTC)

Edit Request 10/24/24

I have a few requests for changes to this page to ensure the article remains current. Thanks in advance for your help.

The company updated its headcount. Please change the infobox and end of the lead.

For the infobox, I'm including the ref syntax so you can just cut and paste:

num_employees = 650 (April 2024)<ref name=burlington>https://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/2024/04/02/beta-technologies-will-hold-first-hiring-day-event-in-april-electric-airplanes/73118500007/</ref>

For end of lead:

The company was founded by Kyle Clark in 2017 and by 2024 had 650 employees.<ref name=burlington/>

Since I'm swapping out the main ref for the headcount, we need to put the full ref into the end of the March 2023 section.

−

It also opened an office in [[Montreal]].<ref name=sevendays/>

+

It also opened an office in [[Montreal]].<ref name=sevendays>{{cite news |url=https://www.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/beta-technologies-opens-satellite-office-in-montreal/Content?oid=37762023 |title=Beta Technologies Opens Satellite Office in Montréal |last=Brouwer|first=Derek |work=Seven Days |location=Vermont |date=March 9, 2023 |access-date=September 13, 2023}}</ref>

I'd also like to rewrite a sentence to make it more accurate, and update the history. Please add this information after the March 2023 history section.

In October 2023, the company opened a 188,500-square-foot production facility in South Burlington, Vermont. The facility is reportedly capable of producing up to 300 aircraft per year, with a planned Phase II buildout intended to double in size.Y Done to here.

In July 2024, the company announced that it had completed several military exercises in collaboration with the Department of Defense, for the Air Force and Air National Guard.N Not done: Company press release with relatively unimportant information.

In April 2024, its ALIA-250 proof of concept aircraft completed a piloted transition from going from hover to wing-borne flight and then back to hover before landing. Also in April 2024, the company announced that it had received UL certification for its 320kw Charge Cube.futureflight/2024-04-19/betas-charge-cube-earns-ul-safety-certification

https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/futureflight/2024-04-19/betas-charge-cube-earns-ul-safety-certification Y Complete to here. Mike Turnbull (talk) 21:17, 25 October 2024 (UTC)

In September 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded the company with a $20 million contract to install electric aircraft chargers at 22 sites across the East and Gulf coasts. Also in September, the company unveiled the prototype of its first passenger carrying ALIA aircraft, capable of carrying five passengers.Y

In the first sentence of the product section, can you change the text to make it more clear?

−

BETA Technologies develops eVTOL aircraft and a network of charging stations to support them.

+

BETA Technologies develops electric aircraft and a network of charging stations to support them.

Y Mike Turnbull (talk) 21:43, 25 October 2024 (UTC)

Lastly, can you swap out the current photos for the updated ones I uploaded? They replace, in order, the aircraft, landing tower and charging tower photos.

• File:BETA_Technologies_Production_Facility.jpg
• File:BETA_Technologies_A250_eVTOL_Prototype_Aircraft.jpg
• File:BETA_Technologies_A250_Electric_Aircraft_Charging.jpg

References

Thanks, @Rsschulz Rsschulz (talk) 01:40, 25 October 2024 (UTC)

@Rsschulz I'm going to start on these requests in a similar way to one of the sections above, marking each part as done or not, with comments. Meanwhile, please ensure that the image files on Commons are confirmed to the Commons:VRT volunteers to have the permission of the photographer for the licensing. See File:BETA_Technologies_Small_Charging_Tower.jpg for how that team marks files which have been correctly uploaded by one person who isn't the actual photographer. Then I'll be happy to add them as you suggest. Mike Turnbull (talk) 20:04, 25 October 2024 (UTC)

@Michael D. Turnbull Thank you for making the changes thus far. I saw that you didn't include the details on the July military deployment as it came from a press release. I have attached two articles here which I hope provide the information necessary to include that important detail to our company's relationship with the military and history. https://www.revolution.aero/news/2024/07/15/beta-completes-two-new-deployments-us-air-force/

https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/futureflight/2024-07-15/us-air-force-deploys-betas-alia-electric-aircraft-prototype

I have asked our photographer to email the VRT team and will let you know once the marking has been updated.

Thank you again for all your work this far. Rsschulz (talk) 21:42, 25 October 2024 (UTC)

Yes, the revolution.aero source is fine and I've add a sentence. Maybe you would like to think of parts of the "history" section that now look out-of-date or less important given more recent developments and we can cut some bits out. Commons usually allow about a week before deleting images where they don't have full evidence of complying with the rules, so you have at least that time to get the email done. In the assumption that all will be well, I'll add the images tomorrow: it's now late at night here in the UK! Mike Turnbull (talk) 22:04, 25 October 2024 (UTC)

 Done. I've placed the images into the article and linked just the filenames above for reference. Mike Turnbull (talk) 11:05, 26 October 2024 (UTC)

Thank you for your work on this it is looking significantly more accurate and up to date. Agreed on the history, I will thread some potential changes. Rsschulz (talk) 19:21, 27 October 2024 (UTC)

@Michael D. Turnbull one detail that jumps out is under products - A250 - passenger configuration: it states capable of carrying six passengers while recent articles claim five passengers and one pilot. Is this something that could be updated? https://techcrunch.com/2024/09/30/beta-technologies-unveils-first-passenger-carrying-electric-aircraft/

That "six" seems to have been a typo. The original cite says five passengers, as does the cite for the final paragraph in the history section. I've updated it. Mike Turnbull (talk) 12:48, 28 October 2024 (UTC)

Also in products - charging infrastructure: the number of stations and locations has been updated. I have included a potential updated line below with sourcing. "By September 2024, the company had opened 32 sites along the east and gulf coast, with at least another 50 locations in the works." https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/futureflight/2024-09-19/beta-installs-electric-aircraft-chargers-three-florida

Thank you for your time Rsschulz (talk) 19:57, 27 October 2024 (UTC)

Added that update, without the "east and gulf coast", which the source doesn't mention. Mike Turnbull (talk) 12:48, 28 October 2024 (UTC)

Wonderful thank you! Here's some recent news from today.

"In October 2024, BETA Technologies announced it had raised $318 million in its latest funding round, led by the Qatar Investment Authority, bringing total funding to over $1 billion."

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-10-31/electric-aircraft-startup-beta-raises-318-million-in-new-round?utm_source=google&utm_medium=bd&cmpId=google Rsschulz (talk) 20:49, 31 October 2024 (UTC)

I know this is exciting for the company but it's all what would be called WP:RUNOFTHEMILL here. All start-ups have funding rounds and this is a primary source based on a company announcement. I'd want to see a secondary commentary that this was unusual or significant in some way. Maybe in a few days there will be such a report. Please start a new section on this Talk Page when you have another suggestion (using a new {{edit request}}) just to keep things tidy. Mike Turnbull (talk) 12:29, 1 November 2024 (UTC)

Totally understand, sounds good. Thank you Rsschulz (talk) 14:36, 1 November 2024 (UTC)

Edit Request 11-05-24

Good Afternoon, back with another request to ensure this article remains current.

As mentioned in the previous post, this news was recently released and now there are a number of outlets highlighting the unique nature of this investment against the industry backdrop of a tight fund-raising environment as well as insolvency at other AAM companies. The funding information also helps readers to understand the scope of the business and the growing international support and interest in AAM particularly in the Middle East.

"In October 2024, BETA Technologies announced it had raised $318 million in its latest funding round, led by the Qatar Investment Authority, bringing total funding to over $1 billion."

https://www.flightglobal.com/aerospace/beta-betters-balance-sheet-with-series-c-funding-as-loan-extends-eves-cash-runway/160561.article

Thank you in advance. Rsschulz (talk) 17:54, 5 November 2024 (UTC)

I've added a version of that in my own words based on a different source which I thought was a more balanced article. Mike Turnbull (talk) 14:28, 6 November 2024 (UTC)

Thank you. Rsschulz (talk) 15:26, 6 November 2024 (UTC)

Edit Request 12-14-24

Good Afternoon,

Back with what I imagine will be my final edit request of the year!

I've added the major updates below with sourcing and a potential highlight of the news.

Metro Aviation (Flying)

In early November 2024, BETA Technologies announced that Metro Aviation had placed an order for 20 eVTOL aircraft, as one of the first air medical service providers in the U.S. to add electric aircraft to its fleet.

First Production Flight (AIN, VTBiz)

In the same month, BETA was granted a multipurpose special airworthiness certificate by the FAA for its first production intent CX300 aircraft which then performed its maiden test flight with CEO Kyle Clark at the helm. BETA also became the first electric aircraft manufacturer to incorporate Garmin’s new G3000 PRIME avionics system into its aircraft.

Garmin (eVTOL Insights, AIN)

See above

Air New Zealand Tech Demonstrator Announcement (The Today Show, Revolution Aero, NZ Herald )

In December 2024, BETA Technologies and Air New Zealand announced that the operator had added an Alia CX300 technical demonstrator aircraft and several charging solutions to its existing order.

Have a nice holiday.

Thank you Rsschulz (talk) 21:25, 14 December 2024 (UTC)

@Rsschulz I added a paragraph based on the November 2024 sources in the main article. I didn't think that the ANZ addition to its existing order was particularly important but the Today.com video is excellent and I placed it as an external link. Regards. Mike Turnbull (talk) 15:17, 16 December 2024 (UTC)

Great, thank you for all your work on this! Rsschulz (talk) 15:37, 16 December 2024 (UTC)

@Michael D. Turnbull in the interest of full disclosure it may be worth adding that the airworthiness certificate is a "multipurpose special airworthiness certificate" that allows the company to fly the aircraft for research and development, pilot training and “market survey” purposes. Rsschulz (talk) 16:07, 16 December 2024 (UTC)

I live and learn. I didn't realise that there were so many different types of certificate but of course WP has an article on this which I've linked to. Mike Turnbull (talk) 16:25, 16 December 2024 (UTC)

Thank you! Definitely quite a few types! Rsschulz (talk) 16:27, 16 December 2024 (UTC)

Edit Request 2-7-25

Good Afternoon,

Back with another edit request to make sure this page stays up to date!

I've included the major updates below with sourcing.

Air New Zealand Tech Demonstrator Announcement (The Today Show, Revolution Aero, NZ Herald )

In December 2024, BETA Technologies and Air New Zealand announced that the operator had added an Alia CX300 technical demonstrator aircraft and several charging solutions to its existing order. The company also announced that the New Zealand Air Ambulance Service had placed firm orders for two A250 aircraft and the option for 10 more.

Hybrid Aircraft (Aviation Week)

Also in the same month, the company announced that it had been working on hybrid-electric propulsion solutions for its CX300 and A250 aircraft.

NZ Air Ambulance Order (AIN, RevolutionAero)

See Above

Charge Locations Update (Flying, Rev.Aero)

In January 2025, BETA Technologies announced that, over the course of 2024, it had doubled its infrastructure network with 46 site locations across the United States. This may go best in the charge section under technology.

Utah x BETA Announcement (Deseret, Utah Public Radio, Flying)

Also in the same month, BETA signed an agreement with the state of Utah and 47G to establish AAM operations. Under the agreement, BETA will install multimodal electric aircraft charging stations throughout Utah and work with the state to identify priority routes for electric aircraft.

Thank you in advance for your help with this. Rsschulz (talk) 17:12, 7 February 2025 (UTC)

ANZ announcement already done (see previous section, especially the external link). I've now made three more edits you can see in the edit history of the article, which cover the parts I thought were most interesting. I've left out the Utah announcement, which is basically a press release saying what a bunch of people intend to do, rather than reporting what has actually been done. The main article is now pretty comprehensive and doesn't need speculation about future intentions, IMO. The guidance is at WP:CRYSTAL Mike Turnbull (talk) 16:52, 10 February 2025 (UTC)

Thank you. Rsschulz (talk) 16:57, 10 February 2025 (UTC)