Dive Brief:
- Toyota Motor Corp. has agreed to invest another $500 million in Joby Aviation to support the certification and commercial production of electric air taxis, according to a Wednesday press release.
- The funding, which will be awarded in two equal tranches, will bring the automaker’s total investment in the startup to $894 million since 2019.
- "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,” said JoeBen Bevirt, founder and CEO of Joby Aviation.
Dive Insight:
Joby still has a ways to go before its electric air taxi designs are certified by regulators.
The product is about 37% through the fourth of five stages of the type certification process, which is expected to accelerate in the remainder of 2024, per Toyota’s press release.
In the meantime, the startup is making strides in production. In August, Joby rolled its third production prototype aircraft off its pilot assembly line in Marina, California, where it works alongside Toyota engineers. The company expects to have four aircraft in active testing next quarter.
Toyota’s latest Joby investment will establish a manufacturing alliance for the first phase of commercialization, the Wednesday release said. The manufacturing collaboration comes after a 2023 deal, in which Toyota agreed to supply key powertrain and actuation components for the long-term production of Joby’s aircraft.
"With this additional investment, we are excited to see Joby certify their aircraft and shift to commercial production," said Tetsuo "Ted" Ogawa, who signed the agreement as the Operating Officer on behalf of Toyota Motor Corp., in the release. "We share Joby's view that sustainable flight will be central to alleviating today's persistent mobility challenges."
Toyota's additional investment reflects the automaker’s founding family’s ambition, starting with Kiichiro Toyoda down to present-day Chairman Akio Toyoda, to “realize the dream of air mobility for personal or daily travel as part of its transformation into a mobility company,” the release continued.
