For years, you’ve been able to watch cool-looking electric-plane videos on YouTube, created by some of the 300 companies who are working on them. But Beta Technologies, in Burlington, Vermont, is unique: “I believe we’re the only company flying people,” said Beta’s CEO and founder Kyle Clark. His company’s electric plane can carry six people, and flies 250 miles on one charge.
“Every year, batteries get better and better, about seven percent per year,” he said. “That means in seven years we’ll double that. And another seven years, we’ll double that again.”