An electric-car-charging station has just been installed at Manchester-Boston Regional Airport.

Actually, that isn’t quite accurate. It’s really an electric-car-and-electric-plane-charging station. 

That might surprise you because there aren’t any electric airplanes – not yet, anyway. The Vermont startup that is behind this new charging station, Beta Technologies, hopes to change that. It has plans to roll out a small electric plane next year and a vertical takeoff-and-landing electric plane in 2026.

As preparation and to expand the business,  it has developed and installed charging stations at airports around the East and Gulf coasts, most recently in Manchester.

“This is one of 20 sites that are online and operational, with 50 more in the works, from Vermont to Florida to Arkansas and Mississippi. We designed our chargers to support electric aircraft and ground vehicles alike, because all modes of transportation are going electric and it will increase utility to be multimodal,” a Beta spokesperson said in a statement.

That’s multimodal as in ready cars, trucks or airplanes – presumably drones or e-bikes as well if they can connect with the DC fast charger at 320 kW. 

The station, with two connections, is on the ramp at Signature Aviation, a fixed base operator that services private airplanes, so it’s not something that casual visitors can plug into.

The airport has electric chargers in its short-term parking lot, out front of the main terminal, and Beta has also installed a Level 2 charger in the parking area.

Beta Technologies, which includes New Hampshire investor Dean Kamen on its board, was founded in 2017. It has flown one of its electric airplanes on a multi-stop trip from Vermont to Florida, going as far as 386 miles on a single charge, although the company said it is targeting short-haul trips of 100 to 150 miles.