Toyota Places Almost $1 Billion Into Electrical Aviation Startup – CleanTechnica – TechnoNews

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Electrical aviation is an enchanting matter. And after we speak about electrical aviation, we’re sometimes speaking about vertical take-off and touchdown (VTOL) plane in fact. There’s been quite a lot of curiosity and hype round electrical VTOL plane for the previous a number of years, however nobody’s actually utilizing them but — and that may make it seem to be they’re by no means going to be value aggressive and reside as much as their hype. However this brings to thoughts a typical maxim with regards to new tech: it might really feel prefer it’s taking endlessly for something to vary, after which a ton can change unexpectedly. Battery know-how and prices maintain getting higher, and that brings us nearer and nearer to industrial electrical flight.

With that in thoughts, latest information from Toyota is a giant rubber stamp on the concept that we must always nonetheless be listening to and enthusiastic about electrical VTOL plane. The Japanese large, nonetheless the most important automaker on the planet, has introduced that it’s going to “invest an additional $500 million to support the certification and commercial production of Joby’s electric air taxi, with the aim of realizing the two companies’ shared vision of air mobility.”

I believe Joby was first lined on CleanTechnica in 2017. 5 years later, in 2021, Michael Barnard defined his skeptical tackle Joby and different electrical VTOL plane. But, the trade plows ahead … whereas nonetheless not having industrial VTOL providers. Possibly Toyota will assist us get there?

Notably, a Joby eVTOL plane accomplished the primary electrical VTOL flight over New York Metropolis almost a 12 months in the past, and eight months in the past Joby launched an air taxi in Dubai. Now, we get information that “Toyota will invest an additional $500 million to support the certification and commercial production of Joby’s electric air taxi, with the aim of realizing the two companies’ shared vision of air mobility.”

With this further $500 million, Toyota Motor Company’s complete investments into Joby now come to $894 million! That’s quite a lot of religion Toyota is placing into this small child model within the electrical flight enviornment.

“Joby continues to make important progress towards commercialization, recently rolling its third aircraft off its pilot production line in Marina, CA, and breaking ground on an expanded facility in California that will more than double the Company’s manufacturing footprint. In August 2024, it confirmed that the fourth of five stages of the type certification process is now more than one-third complete on the Joby side.”

So, it appears like one thing is going on. We might see notable progress on electrical air taxis within the coming few years. However we’ll see how lengthy it truly takes.

“Today’s investment builds on nearly seven years of collaboration between our companies,” mentioned JoeBen Bevirt, founder and CEO, Joby Aviation. “The knowledge and support shared by Toyota has been instrumental in Joby’s success and we look forward to deepening our relationship as we deliver on our shared vision for the future of air travel.”

“With this additional investment, we are excited to see Joby certify their aircraft and shift to commercial production,” mentioned Tetsuo “Ted” Ogawa, who signed the settlement because the Working Officer on behalf of Toyota Motor Company. “We share Joby’s view that sustainable flight will be central to alleviating today’s persistent mobility challenges.”

Progress. What’s subsequent?