The quest to develop an all-electric Vertical Take-Off And Landing (eVTOL) aircraft for commercial passenger service has a frontrunner in California based Joby Aviation (Joby). The transportation company has the formidable backing of Toyota Motor Corporation, acquired Uber Elevate and achieved a $6.6 billion valuation in February when it merged with Reinvent Technology Partners (RTP), a special purpose acquisition company, led by Reid Hoffman, co-founder of Linkedin and Zynga co-founder Mark Pincus. The latest round of funding solidifies Joby’s position as a leader in the all-electric eVTOL sector.
Ride by Air
The Californian eVTOL pioneer intends to deploy its aircraft as part of an on-demand, aerial ridesharing service for distances between five to 150 miles. Joby says that over time, it expects the cost per passenger trip to be on par with an UberX, though it does not say by when exactly this will happen. Joby’s space-age looking eVTOLs will not be available for sale to individual customers but aim to accelerate the shift towards sustainable modes of transit. It targets emerging requirements in the USA for clean, quiet, modern transportation systems to reduce urban congestion.
Joby’s piloted eVTOL aircraft is powered by six tiltable dual-redundant electric motor units with a claimed cruise of 320 kmph with four passengers onboard and a range of at least 240 km on a single charge. Joby says travelling the 70 km distance from Los Angeles Airport to Newport Beach in its eVTOL would take a mere 15 minutes with zero operating emissions as compared to an hour and fifteen minutes by road. The company says the expected noise signature during a hover 100m above the ground will be 65 dBA (much less than a hairdryer) which further aids its chances of operating in and around urban environments.
Marquee Investors
The recent merger with RTP provides Joby with more than $1.6 billion of funding, significantly strengthening its efforts to deploy a five-seater eVTOL aircraft in passenger service starting 2024. Joby also has the advantage of gaining access to Toyota’s engineering and manufacturing expertise. The Japanese automaker lead Joby’s Series C financing with an investment of $394 million in January 2020, and its engineers are working shoulder to shoulder with Joby engineers on projects. According to Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda his belief in and commitment to Joby is rooted in his goal to “realise the flying car dreams of his grandfather Kiichiro.” Toyota’s decades of experience in ultra-efficient high-volume manufacturing will be key towards Joby’s ambition of rapid commercialisation of eVTOL technology.
In late 2020, Joby acquired Uber Elevate, securing a $75 million investment from Uber Technologies, with both companies agreeing to integrate their respective services into each other’s apps for seamless integration between ground and air travel for future customers. Joby will reap substantial benefits from the Elevate acquisition with access to key personnel, and a suite of software tools focused on multi-modal operations management and demand simulation, fed by Uber’s data.
Certification is Key
The design configuration was finalised in 2015, and in 2020, Joby became the first eVTOL manufacturer to agree to a ‘G-1’ certification basis for its aircraft with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). This was a vital step forward as it removed the potential roadblocks related to the certification of what will be a revolutionary mode of transport. As per the agreement with the FAA, Joby now has a blueprint to be adhered to for aircraft certification, which is slated for 2023. Joby also received the US Air Force’s first-ever airworthiness approval for an eVTOL aircraft in 2020. “While we still have several years of aircraft testing ahead of us, we now have a clearly defined and achievable path to certifying our aircraft and introducing customer flights,” JoeBen Bevirt Joby’s Founder & CEO said in February.
FAA Part 135 certificate compliance is a must for Joby’s eVTOL aircraft, which means it must adhere to stringent FAA requirements related to flight operations, maintenance and training. A trained and certified pilot will fly the aircraft and Joby says that the aircraft has been designed with an unwavering commitment and focus towards safety. As an example, while the aircraft has six motor units, it can fly with fewer. Ample battery capacity has also been provided to allow for emergencies such as diversion to a nearby landing site or endurance to fly around until that site clears and then perform a normal vertical landing. The aircraft will also have the capability to make conventional landings like an airplane.
Building Block Approach
Unlike many other competitors in what is now a rapidly growing eVTOL business opportunity in the USA, Joby has spent a decade developing a piloted eVTOL aircraft with more than 1,000 test flights to its credit. The company has also secured a long-term supply agreement with Toray Advanced Composites for the composite materials used throughout the aircraft structure, propulsion systems, and interior components. In February, Joby announced the selection of Garmin’s state-of-the-art modular G3000 integrated flight deck, which provides lightweight and vibrant high-resolution flight displays. The integrated flight deck will be specifically tailored to support the eVTOL aircraft’s navigation, communication and flight sensors, providing tight integration with the vehicle mission computer and tailoring flight guidance display indications.
All images courtesy: Joby Aviation