Toyota Motor announced plans to invest US$394m in Joby Aviation, a California-based developer of ‘flying taxis’, as it looks to expand further into mobility services to help meet evolving personal transportation requirements globally.
Earlier this month Hyundai Motor launched a similar project in partnership with US ride hailing company Uber, to develop and manufacture flying taxis for personal transportation.
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Toyota described Joby as a leader in the development of electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, which combine elements of helicopters and small airplanes to offer highly reliable and safe, zero-emission flights with speeds of up to 200 mph. The aircraft are powered by multiple rotors, driven by individual electric motors.
Like Hyundai, Toyota is interested in developing and manufacturing eVTOL aircraft to provide urban transportation services, such as airport transfers and daily commuting.
Toyota sees Joby’s design as being “well matched to serve the needs of an emerging air transportation market where commuters and travelers embrace the benefits of aviation on a daily basis within and between urban centres”.
Toyota Motor president and CEO Akio Toyoda said: “Air transportation has been a long term goal for Toyota and, while we continue our work in the automobile business, this agreement sets our sights to the sky. As we take up the challenge of air transportation together with Joby, an innovator in the emerging eVTOL sector, we tap the potential to revolutionise future transportation and life.”
As well as being a leading investor in Joby’s US$590m Series C financing, Toyota will share its expertise in manufacturing, quality and cost control for the development and production of the eVTOL aircraft.
Joby Aviation founder and CEO JoeBen Bevirt said Toyota’s collaboration for us “represents an unprecedented commitment of money and resources from one of the world’s leading automakers. Toyota is known globally for the quality and reliability of their products, driven by meticulous attention to detail and manufacturing processes. I am excited to harness Toyota’s engineering and manufacturing prowess to drive toward our dream of helping a billion people save an hour of more of commuting time every day”.
