One of the leading developers of electric Vertical Take-off and Landing aircraft, Joby Aviation, has taken a lead in the race to certify and commercialise eVTOLs.
First, the US Air Force has granted airworthiness approval for Joby Aviation’s four-seater eVTOL and will start tests next year. It’s not the same as civil airworthiness approval but the US authority, the FAA, will be keeping an close watch on how it performs.
Not only that but Joby Aviation has done some sort of contra-deal with Uber, the taxi app company, to take over its Uber Elevate programme while receiving $75m in investment from Uber.
Uber Elevate was established in 2016 to lay the groundwork for the aerial ridesharing market by bringing together regulators, civic leaders, real estate developers and technology companies around a shared vision for the future of air travel.
The Uber Elevate team has developed a set of software tools enabling market selection, demand simulation and multi-modal operations and that’s what Joby Aviation is really getting from the deal.
Quite what other players in the Uber Elevate programme think of it being highjacked by Joby Aviation isn’t known, at least, not publicly. They include Embraer, Bell, Pipistrel, Hyundai and Aurora Flight Sciences (part of Boeing).
It seems as though Uber’s interest in Joby isn’t new. The latest investment comes in addition to a previously undisclosed $50 million investment made as part of Joby’s Series C financing round in January 2020.
JoeBen Bevirt, founder and CEO of Joby Aviation said, “The team at Uber Elevate has not only played an important role in our industry, they have also developed a remarkable set of software tools that build on more than a decade of experience enabling on-demand mobility. These tools and new team members will be invaluable to us as we accelerate our plans for commercial launch.”
Joby Aviation’s total funding, including previous rounds and a substantial $390m from Toyota, to $820 million.
Year in review – 2020
Thank you everybody for a great year! We can’t wait for all that’s to come…#USAF #AgilityPrime pic.twitter.com/bzKt8u5EaJ— Agility Prime (@AgilityPrime) December 15, 2020
US Air Force approval
The USAF is behind an initiative called Agility Prime, an attempt to speed up technology development and reduce risk. It launched a programme it calls ‘Air Race to Certification’ in February 2020 which has attracted around 20 entrants.
Joby Aviation is the first to be approved with Beta Tecnologies expected to also be approved early in 2021. They’ll be flying test missions for the USAF in 2021 and beyond, with up to $100m available to fund the sorties.