Beam and Pipistrel team-up for “Flying on Sunshine” Test

The Beam company the leading producer of infrastructure for the electrification of transport – 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, California with local officials present and our USA customer and a big promoter of electric aviation, Mr Joseph Oldham, at the controls.

The Beam Global CEO, Mr 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 unit was completely off-grid and provided the necessary 240 volts single-phase current to charge the Electro without issue.

The charging demonstration, which happened on 30. October in Reedley, CA, set 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 50 kW charger.

This proof-of-concept test flight is the first step in Beam Global’s larger initiative to bring clean mobility to this new sector of sustainable transportation.