An artist version of a new UPS aircraft.
Source: UPS
United Parcel Service takes package delivery to new heights, literally, with the purchase of ten electric vertical take-off and landing jets from Beta Technologies.
In an announcement Wednesday, UPS in Atlanta said it will test the eVTOLs for use in its Express Air delivery network, focusing on small and medium markets. The company will manage the eVTOLs under its Flight Forward division, which also investigates drone delivery.
The new type of aircraft, which looks like a cross between an airplane and a helicopter, “unlocks new business models that do not exist today,” Bala Ganesh, vice president of the UPS Advanced Technology Group, told CNBC . ‘For example, you can see a future where it’s emerging, say now £ 1,000, £ 1,500 to rural hospitals,’ and landing on a helicopter platform instead of an airport.
Beta Technologies, based in Vermont, will design and build the eVTOLs that will be delivered to UPS in 2024, pending Federal Aviation Administration certification. Beta will also provide landing pads and rechargeable batteries. UPS has an option to purchase up to 150 eVTOLs. The price of the transaction was not disclosed. The eVTOLs can fly at a single charge up to 250 km at 170 km / h.
“We also reflected on some urgent moments, such as bypassing New York traffic, and then moving it directly to our 43rd Street building so we can bridge the congestion,” Ganesh said. “It’s not suitable for all packages, but for certain use cases: willingness to pay, and urgency, we can think of going to those areas.”
The eVTOLs will be used similarly to small fixed-wing aircraft with a capacity of 500 to 3000 pounds. UPS said they initially plan to use it in smaller markets and create a series of short routes or one long route to meet customer needs. According to Ganesh, the eVTOLs have an advantage over small aircraft because they are designed to accommodate cargo containers, which in many cases enables faster transport of packages.
“The smaller planes are usually not in container. They do not have any kind of container, so it loads a package in these planes, then the lands, and then has to be loaded into a truck or another vehicle and then to ‘ another transport is put in place, re-used, reloaded into the delivery truck that delivers it, ‘Ganesh said.
Beta Technologies founder Kyle Clark said his team worked with UPS to change the way the company handles moving packages.
“We combine a simple, elegant design and advanced technology to create a reliable aircraft that has no emissions in the industry, which will revolutionize cargo,” Clark said in a statement. “By using vertical takeoffs and landings, we can transform relatively small spaces at existing UPS facilities into a micro-feeder network without the noise or operational emissions of traditional aircraft.”
Sustainability has become increasingly important since Carol Tome became UPS CEO last year. In its annual report for 2020, UPS stated that its goal is to reduce greenhouse gases from its soil industry by 12% and by 2025 obtain 25% of its electrical needs from renewable sources.
In January 2020, UPS announced a commitment to purchase up to 10,000 electric vehicles from Arrival Group, headquartered in London and Charlotte, North Carolina. The eVTOL batteries are also compatible with the vehicles. Even when the first life cycle of the batteries ends in the aircraft, it can still be used in the EVs.
“It just creates easier operating models, which makes it easier to implement and manage as we move forward,” Ganesh said. “It creates newer ways of dealing that give us more flexibility and optimal savings.”