Joby Aviation raises $590M for electric air taxi, hurdles remain for widespread adoption

Fleets of flying taxis are getting closer to reality thanks to a major investment in eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft company Joby Aviation.

The California-based air taxi company has raised $590 million in a round led by Toyota Motor Corporation, which invested $394 million.

Existing investors SPARX Group, Intel Capital, Capricorn Investment Group, JetBlue Technology Ventures, Toyota AI Ventures and AME Cloud Ventures also participated, as did new investors Baillie Gifford and Global Oryx.

The Series C round brings Joby Aviation's total funding to $720 million, which the company claims makes it the best-funded eVTOL startup; Toyota Motor Corporation executive vice president Shigeki Tomoyama will join Joby Aviation's board of directors.

Founded in 2009, Joby Aviation says its mission is to bring affordable, zero-emissions air mobility to communities around the world. With Toyota’s investment, the automotive manufacturer will support development and production of Joby Aviation's aircraft by sharing its expertise in manufacturing, quality and cost control.

Speaking on a panel at Mozio's Mobility in Travel Forum in New York last week, Greg Bowles, head of government affairs at Joby Aviation, said its “extremely quiet” aircraft allows for arrivals and departures in locations helicopters normally can’t get to.

Bowles said the aircraft is completely silent while in flight and 100 times quieter than a helicopter during takeoff and landing. “That means we start to interface with people in a much more direct way [and get them] very close to where you want to be,” he said.

He said the all-electric aircraft, which can reach speeds of 200 miles per hour and can fly more than 150 miles on a single charge, are “wonderfully green” and make an efficient use of power.

“We’re hoping this doesn’t become something only for a certain segment [of customers]. We price it in a way everyone can use it several times a week. It can save time or ensure you don’t get stuck in traffic or reach distances you can’t reasonably move to by car,” Bowles said.

“These are not choices we have today, but would like to.”

Air taxi rollout

During the session, titled The Z Axis and moderated by Raj Singh, managing director of JetBlue Technology Ventures, which invested in Joby Aviation, panelists agreed that the need for and technology to produce air taxis is here, but there are roadblocks - particularly in the form of regulation - that need addressed before usage takes off.

“We want people to fly today: In New York City, the average speed of cars has reduced from 11 miles per hour to 7 miles per hour; there are 170,000 Ubers circling Manhattan. Like real estate, we have to build up,” said Rob Wiesenthal, CEO of helicopter service Blade.

He said Blade views it as requiring evolutionary, not revolutionary, progress: For example, aircraft as well as government regulation are needed before proper infrastructure can be developed.

“The first next-gen aircraft will be used in conventional infrastructure, then in time Skyports, etc. Like Netflix, which used to send DVDs in bags … it was a little bit clunky, but it had a terrific brand, great service, great content and they were waiting for streaming. When it happened, they had all the pieces in place,” Wiesenthal said.

“Our ‘streaming’ is eVTOL. … At some point in time, when the system is ready and aircraft are certified, we’ll hopefully have all the pieces we need to hit the ground running.”

Bowles said that in addition to obstacles including navigating infrastructure and working with municipalities, getting consumers to understand what urban mobility is also poses a challenge. “The communication piece is the biggest risk; the technology side is easy.”

Wiesenthal believes Europe, China and the Middle East will likely to adopt air taxi service before the United States because they are regions more open to experimentation. Voom CEO Clement Monnet said he thinks China and Latin America will be the first to have some commercial routes by the end of the decade.