Joby Aviation Pushes Ahead with Electric Air Taxis


Joby Aviation’s six rotable-engine eVTOL air taxis continued their march towards service this year. “We have now rolled three production prototype aircraft off our production line in Marina, California, with a fourth nearly complete and set to join our active flight test program soon,” said Greg Bowles, Joby’s head of government policy. “In 2024, we reached an important milestone on our journey to type certification with the completion of our first major subassembly intended to be used in for-credit testing. We continued our momentum toward type certification, with more Stage 4 documents both submitted and accepted by the FAA than during any previous quarter.”


That’s not all: Joby also completed the first international demonstration flights of its eVTOL air taxi this year at Toyota’s Higashi-Fuji Technical Center in Japan. “The flights marked an opportunity to demonstrate the low acoustic footprint of our aircraft and welcome guests from a wide range of stakeholders,


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including Japan’s civil aviation authority,” Bowles said. “In October, Joby deepened our partnership with Toyota with $500 million committed and plans to establish a manufacturing alliance to support the first phase of commercialization. The funds, subject to closing conditions, will bring Toyota Motor Corporation’s total investment in Joby to $894 million.”


Also, in September 2024, Joby flew a first-of-its-kind hydrogen- electric air taxi demonstrator for 523 miles, with water as the only by-product. “The aircraft, which takes off and lands vertically, builds on Joby’s successful battery-electric air taxi development program, and demonstrates the potential for hydrogen to unlock emissions-free, regional journeys that don’t require a runway,” said Bowles.


And lastly, Joby acquired the autonomy division of Xwing Inc., which has been flying autonomous aircraft since 2020 using the Superpilot software it has developed in-house.


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