- The American company Joby Aviation has pledged to establish a commercial air taxi fleet by 2024.
- It has grown rapidly and now has more than 800 employees.
- However, while it is optimistic about flying cars, the approval of US regulators is uncertain.
Joby Aviation is committed to building and operating a fleet of commercial air taxis by 2024, and will begin trading on Wednesday to test the imagination of public investors. The stock soared by more than 12% in the first hour of trading.
Since its establishment in 2009, Joby has sold plans to manufacture new manned drones from companies such as Uber Technologies and Toyota, and has raised more than $700 million in private capital. This week’s merger with a special purpose acquisition company more than doubled the amount on Joby’s balance sheet.
Joby is the largest of a group of upstarts, which also includes Volocopter GmbH and Beta Technologies. They are fighting against Airbus, Boeing and Lockheed Martin, seeking to use breakthroughs in battery technology to create a more environmentally friendly mode of urban transportation that is not affected by ground transportation. In order to successfully bring science fiction to life, they need to mass-produce machines, overcome regulatory obstacles, and make business models work.
Joe Ben Bevirt, the founder and CEO of Joby, expressed his characteristic optimism in a video interview at his home near the Joby headquarters in Santa Cruz, California, with mountains surrounded by redwoods. “We feel very good about the progress made,” he said. “It is a dream come true to be able to build a quiet, clean, and zero-emission aircraft, and I can continue to be proud of it.”
The rise of SPACs since last year has enabled a new type of stock to be listed on the most elite exchanges in the world. This process allows companies (some without any income) to bypass censorship related to IPOs and raise funds from investors who sign blank checks.Aerospace companies have always been a special Enthusiastic adopters of the model.
Joby merged with SPAC called Reinvent Technology Partners, led by LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and Zynga co-founder Mark Pincus. The proceeds of this transaction plus cash on the balance sheet as of March 31 were approximately $1.6 billion. The stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol JOBY.
In anticipation of this transaction, Joby accelerated the recruitment speed and now has more than 800 employees.It shows what it calls Final aircraft design In June, told two Bloomberg reporters that production of these cars would begin next year. Last month, Joby stated that it completed more than 150 miles of flight on a single charge. The company has been cooperating with the Federal Aviation Administration for several years and is expected to be certified in 2023. To achieve this goal, it will begin training pilots to operate a five-seater aircraft.
There has been a lot of hype around flying cars. It is estimated that by 2030, quiet, fast and emission-free flights are expected to create a $120 billion market for so-called urban air traffic. Honeywell International, To manufacture parts for new aircraft. According to Morgan Stanley, this could increase to $1 trillion by 2040.
But Robin Riddle, a McKinsey & Company partner who leads the company’s aviation business, said that the green light for regulators is far from guaranteed. He said that the FAA’s first approval of the new aircraft may face a year or more delay. “Before someone actually completes it, every certification is a risk,” he said. “details make a difference.”
Finding the place to take off and land is another necessary puzzle. Joby reached an agreement with Reef Technology and Neighborhood Property Group backed by SoftBank this year to gain access to the roofs of some parking lots and other buildings in North America and Europe. Joby hopes to install helipads and charging stations at these locations.
Jobi and a dozen other electric air taxi companies wrote to members of the U.S. House of Representatives last month requesting that the charging infrastructure of their aircraft be included in national infrastructure legislation. The House of Representatives is expected to negotiate to expand the bill passed by the Senate on Tuesday, but it is not yet clear what will be added. A spokeswoman for Jobi said that the letter received a “positive response” and the company is pleased to see that the request is resolved in the coming weeks.
Joby plans to develop taxi services through partnerships.Uber, after selling its flying car division to Joby, is both a major investor and a partner end of last year, Has stated that it will provide Joby’s air services to its customers and provide ground transportation to Joby’s departure and arrival locations. They plan to start in American cities, including Los Angeles, Miami, New York, and San Francisco.
On Wednesday morning, Joby will park an airplane in front of the New York Stock Exchange building. This is the first public display of the airplane.
