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On June 24, 2024, Joby’s hydrogen-electric expertise demonstrator plane accomplished a 523-mile flight above Marina, California, with no in-flight emissions besides water.
Hydrogen-electric program builds on expertise developed by Joby subsidiary H2FLY, acquired in 2021, and types a part of Joby’s future expertise roadmap; Joby’s hydrogen-electric, vertical take-off and touchdown demonstrator plane completes landmark 523 mile flight, with water as the one by-product; Flight demonstrates potential for emissions-free regional journey; Hydrogen-electric program supported by means of Joby’s partnership with the U.S. Air Drive’s Agility
Joby Aviation, Inc. (NYSE:JOBY), a subsequent technology aviation firm, right this moment introduced it has efficiently flown a first-of-its-kind hydrogen-electric air taxi demonstrator 523 miles, with water as the one by-product. The plane, which takes off and lands vertically, builds on Joby’s profitable battery-electric air taxi improvement program, and demonstrates the potential for hydrogen to unlock emissions-free, regional journeys that don’t require a runway.
JoeBen Bevirt, Founder and CEO, Joby, mentioned: “Touring by air is central to human progress, however we have to discover methods to make it cleaner. With our battery-electric air taxi set to essentially change the way in which we transfer round cities, we’re excited to now be constructing a expertise stack that would redefine regional journey utilizing hydrogen-electric plane.
“Think about with the ability to fly from San Francisco to San Diego, Boston to Baltimore, or Nashville to New Orleans with out the necessity to go to an airport and with no emissions besides water. That world is nearer than ever, and the progress we’ve made in direction of certifying the battery-electric model of our plane provides us an incredible head begin as we look forward to making hydrogen-electric flight a actuality.
“The vast majority of the design, testing and certification work we’ve completed on our battery-electric aircraft carries over to commercializing hydrogen-electric flight. In service, we also expect to be able to use the same landing pads, the same operations team, and Joby’s ElevateOS software that will support the commercial operation of our battery-electric aircraft.”
The landmark check flight, believed to be the primary ahead flight of a vertical take off and touchdown plane powered by liquid hydrogen, was accomplished final month utilizing a transformed Joby pre-production prototype battery-electric plane fitted with a liquid hydrogen gas tank and gas cell system. It landed with 10% of its hydrogen gas load remaining.
Jacob Wilson, (Performing) Department Chief, AFWERX Agility Prime, mentioned: “Agility Prime has been very supportive of hydrogen-powered aircraft development and testing as it aligns with the program’s goals to advance transformative vertical lift technologies and broader Department of Defense operational energy goals of energy substitution and diversification, and energy demand reduction.”
“Clean hydrogen has the potential to help decarbonize our aviation system for decades to come,” mentioned Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Vitality Effectivity and Renewable Vitality Jeff Marootian. “Regional air mobility innovation provides a clear opportunity to incorporate clean hydrogen into the future of transportation.”
“Joby is a stellar example of why California continues to lead the world in clean technology and high-tech manufacturing,” mentioned Dee Dee Myers, Senior Advisor to California Governor Gavin Newsom and Director of the Governor’s Workplace of Enterprise and Financial Improvement. “Their pioneering work to decarbonize aviation, by advancing battery and now hydrogen fuel cell technology, is helping to fight climate change and create a clean energy future that will improve the lives of all Californians.”
Joby’s hydrogen-electric demonstrator is a part of the Firm’s future expertise program and is the results of a number of years of collaboration between a small workforce at Joby and H2FLY, Joby’s wholly-owned subsidiary primarily based in Stuttgart, Germany. The transformed plane beforehand accomplished greater than 25,000 miles of testing as a battery-electric plane at Joby’s base in Marina, CA.
Utilizing the identical airframe and total structure as Joby’s core, battery-electric plane, this demonstrator includes a liquid hydrogen gas tank, designed and constructed by Joby, which shops as much as 40 kilograms of liquid hydrogen, alongside a diminished mass of batteries. Hydrogen is fed right into a gas cell system, designed and constructed by H2FLY, to provide electrical energy, water, and warmth. The electrical energy produced by the hydrogen gas cell powers the six electrical motors on the Joby plane, with the batteries offering extra energy primarily throughout take-off and touchdown.
Joby’s H2FLY workforce used comparable expertise to finish one other record-breaking flight in September 2023, once they flew the world’s first piloted flight of a traditional liquid hydrogen-electric plane utilizing their gas cell expertise.
As a part of Joby’s wider dedication to main the way in which on the event of latest aviation applied sciences, it lately acquired Xwing Inc., an trade chief within the improvement of autonomous expertise for aviation. Xwing has been flying autonomous plane since 2020, with 250 absolutely autonomous flights and greater than 500 auto-landings accomplished to this point, utilizing the Superpilot software program it developed in-house.
Joby plans to start out business operations as quickly as 2025, utilizing its battery-electric air taxi. The Firm is listed on the New York Inventory Trade and has raised greater than $2 billion of funding to this point, together with investments from Toyota, Delta Air Traces, SK Telecom, Uber and Baillie Gifford.
Supply: Joby Aviation, Inc. (NYSE:JOBY)
