Joby, the air taxi company, receives an additional 500 million dollars from Toyota.
The automotive giant Toyota is investing an additional 500 million dollars in Joby, the company that conducted the first test flight of an air taxi over New York City.
Toyota is making a strong investment in the air taxi sector by announcing a $500 million investment in Joby, a California-based company. The arrival of flying taxis, an idea that seemed straight out of science fiction movies, had been eagerly anticipated to be showcased during the Paris Olympics last summer, but plans were scrapped due to concerns over certification.
Toyota's interest in Joby dates back to 2019, and with this new funding, the total investment from the Japanese company amounts to nearly $900 million. This aims to support the certification and commercial production of Joby's innovative electric air taxi, which is designed to transport a pilot and up to four passengers at speeds of up to 320 kilometers per hour (200 miles per hour). Additionally, some of these aircraft are being designed to operate autonomously.
Joby has also made significant international progress. Last month, it signed an agreement with the United Arab Emirates that could allow for the start of commercial passenger services in Dubai as early as 2025. Meanwhile, in the United States, Delta Air Lines has partnered with Joby to offer air taxis as part of its service for passengers, while United Airlines is collaborating with Archer Aviation.
Electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles (eVTOL) promise a faster, quieter, and more environmentally friendly mobility service compared to ground transportation. However, the biggest challenges for the full development of air taxi services are the safety and certification processes. The experience of the cancellation of Volocopter's planned flight during the Olympics in Germany underscores this difficulty.
Globally, other companies like Hyundai and China's XPeng HT Aero are also in the race for the aerial mobility market. The market for ground taxi services and on-demand transportation is estimated to reach $500 billion, and more than 20% of current users of these services could "definitely envision" using flying taxis.
So far, plans in the United States for air taxi operations focus on services between airports and cities. However, Joby has expanded its vision since acquiring Uber Elevate in 2020 and hopes to integrate its air taxis with Uber's transportation app in the future.
