Mooney: Future taking off
With the triple-good, new-technology news of Eviation, Lilium and about a score of new electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing eVTOL urban taxi manufacturers, the future is looking good.
The future is emissions free. The future is clean. There are a lot of new electric aircraft in the world being developed, and they will be flying soon. Eviation’s jet tops out at 32,200 feet.
With a rare, decades-long decision by the Pitkin County commissioners coming up regarding redeveloping the airport, it would be prudent and most efficient now to plan for charging infrastructure on the new jet walkways.
At the very least, the remodeled ASE terminal and the walkways both need to incorporate new 240 volt lines now because we want clean-carbon, emissions-free aircraft. ASE is a heavy industrial site. It can easily accommodate fields of raised photovoltaic arrays above the automobile parking, on top of the newly remodeled terminal and even over some of the luggage equipment parking areas near the terminal.
The new, private terminal business needs to plan on servicing personal electric jets, and this should be required by the county commissioners in the next contract. At the recent eMOVE360º show in Berlin, a 480-kW super cool-looking four-car charging unit made its debut, which will be perfect for the reconfigured short-term parking. Get a full charge in 10 minutes.
Tom Mooney
Aspen
