America's Consortium for Electric Skyways (ACES) is to expand interoperable electric aircraft charging infrastructure across Texas, supporting air taxi operations under the state's eVTOL Integration Pilot Programme (eIPP). The build-out will cover airports, FBOs and other sites around the state.

ACES was launched in Washington on 16 July by Archer Aviation, Beta Technologies and Macquarie Capital, with a goal of electrifying up to 250 air taxi sites across America's largest airports and metro areas within a decade, including sites in California, Texas, Florida and New York. Beta is supplying charging hardware built on the Combined Charging Standard (CCS), a format endorsed by the General Aviation Manufacturers Association and adopted almost uniformly across the eVTOL industry, allowing interoperability between operators and aircraft types. Macquarie Capital is providing strategic advice to the consortium, including arranging investment capital for site acquisition and construction.

The consortium is designed around a shared infrastructure model, with Archer's passenger air taxi operations using the network during peak hours and Beta's customers running cargo and medical transport flights around them. At major airports the model extends further, making CCS-compatible chargers available to ground support vehicles as well as aircraft.

With all-electric air taxi flights planned in Texas in the coming months by Beta, Archer and other manufacturers, ACES will work with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and state and local partners to identify where operators expect to fly under the programme and prepare infrastructure accordingly. Plans include regional test flights connecting the Texas Triangle, Dallas/Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio and Houston, with rural communities also linked as networks extend from each city.

“The eIPP is a first-of-its-kind effort to safely integrate electric aircraft into US airspace, and building the charging infrastructure to support those operations puts Texas squarely at the centre of the next generation of aviation,” says Sergio Roman, TxDOT emerging aviation technology director.

“ACES plans to put interoperable chargers where eIPP operations will take place, built on an open standard the whole industry can use," says Adam Goldstein, founder and chief executive of Archer Aviation. Dan Edwards, principal deputy assistant secretary for aviation and international affairs at the US Department of Transportation, said the consortium's plan for more than 250 interoperable sites is helping "lay the foundation for the United States to win in the next era of advanced aviation.”

The push follows Archer's launch last week of its "No Roads" flight tour, extending city-to-city test flights of its all-electric Midnight air taxi across the United States in coordination with the FAA. The flights are intended to prepare Archer for eIPP operations in Texas, Florida and New York, with Midnight flights over Los Angeles due to begin later this year ahead of the company's role as official air taxi provider for the LA28 Games.