I took the most fun flight of my life to see why electric planes still haven't gone mainstream

US airline fares rose almost 24% over the past year, making the prospect of cheaper short flights especially appealing.

For our video series, "The Limit," I recently took a 25-minute flight on Beta Technologies' Alia CX300. The journey used about $5.25 in electricity. A comparable trip in a conventional jet-fuel-powered plane would have cost an estimated 10 times as much in fuel, about $60

Electric aviation has spent decades promising an electric-car-style revolution. Beyond lower costs, electric planes could make short flights quieter and produce no in-flight emissions.

Beta Technologies is aiming to get its Alia CX300 certified by the Federal Aviation Administration by the end of 2027. The plane has already flown nearly 400 miles on a charge and stayed airborne for over five hours.

The question is whether those advantages can translate into a viable business. Other electric-aircraft startups have run into financial trouble after spending years trying to bring aircraft to market.

I toured Beta's manufacturing facility, watched how it builds its batteries and aircraft, and flew aboard the CX300 myself.

What I saw helps explain why electric planes still aren't regularly carrying passengers, more than 50 years after the first electric aircraft flew — and what Beta has to accomplish over the next year if it wants to change that.

Other electric-aircraft companies have already gone under after spending years and billions of dollars trying to bring their planes to market.

Beta is taking a vertically integrated approach, building its own batteries, propulsion systems, planes, and charging technology.

The company went public in November 2025, raising more than $1 billion. “It was the largest founder-led industrial IPO in history,” Beta founder and CEO Kyle Clark told me.

In order to fly about 300 nautical miles, the Alia CX300 must carry nearly 3,000 pounds of batteries. The jet fuel needed to fly a comparable distance would weigh only about 50 pounds.

The CX300 can carry just five passengers and one pilot, underscoring how battery weight constrains the size and range of electric aircraft.