Toyota invests $349 million in flying taxi startup Joby Aviation

[CRSKTN]

Toyota invests $349 million in flying taxi startup Joby Aviation

Toyota is exploring a new flight path for mobility through a new collaboration with Joby Aviation (Joby), an aerospace company that is developing and commercializing all-electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft to enable the deployment of fast, quiet and affordable air transportation services. The collaboration reflects Toyota's recognition of the long-term potential of the urban air mobility market to meet the evolving needs of society, as well as Joby's position as an industry leader in working to deliver safe and affordable air travel to everyone.

"Air transportation has been a long-term goal for Toyota, and while we continue our work in the automobile business, this agreement sets our sights to the sky," said Toyota Motor Corporation President and CEO Akio Toyoda. "As we take up the challenge of air transportation together with Joby, an innovator in the emerging eVTOL space, we tap the potential to revolutionize future transportation and life. Through this new and exciting endeavor, we hope to deliver freedom of movement and enjoyment to customers everywhere, on land, and now, in the sky."

Automotive Meets Aviation

Toyota is embracing emerging technologies as it transforms into a mobility company that is better equipped to meet the unique mobility needs of individuals everywhere. The new collaboration with Joby Aviation is anticipated to help bring urban on-demand air transportation into the mainstream and initiate a new category of moving people and goods.

It is anticipated that eVTOLs will help to create new mobility services with the potential to help alleviate persistent mobility challenges. Those challenges include traffic congestion in urban areas, increased environmental burden and the lack of transportation in underpopulated areas, among others.

Joby is a leader in the development of eVTOL aircraft which combine elements of helicopters and small airplanes, offering benefits that include high reliability, zero emissions, fast flight speeds and quiet operations. The aircraft also offers lower operating costs, lower costs of maintenance, and enhanced safety features.

Toyota and Joby Aviation are Flying to New Heights Together

/PRNewswire/ -- Toyota is exploring a new flight path for mobility through a new collaboration with Joby Aviation (Joby), an aerospace company that is...

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[Will1991]

So... They don’t see a viable future in battery electric passenger cars but invest so much in a battery electric plane?!
Energy density it’s so far off to heavy duty transportation and airplanes... And it’s not for the lack of option since Toyota should be one of the bests for hydrogen development.

 

[Ian Schmidt]

So... They don’t see a viable future in battery electric passenger cars but invest so much in a battery electric plane?!

They don't *in the US at this time*. They clearly do in Europe since that's where they're shipping the first BEVs.

 

[Will1991]

Maybe I didn’t express myself correctly, it’s already announced 2020 as the beginning for Europe as you’ve said @Ian Schmidt , I wanted to express from a engineering point of view.

A electric plane does seems a novelty project, but from a technical point of view it will be very hard to achieve. From a technical view it would make much more sense with Hydrogen due to energy density.

A battery electric air plane should have very little cargo capacity... Even at 250Wh/kg to have as much energy as 200L of diesel oil you need something around 4TON of batteries alone.

So it’s a bit strange how Toyota off all companies (so into hydrogen development) is investing so much money on a eVTOL.

 

[CRSKTN]

Maybe I didn’t express myself correctly, it’s already announced 2020 as the beginning for Europe as you’ve said @Ian Schmidt , I wanted to express from a engineering point of view.

A electric plane does seems a novelty project, but from a technical point of view it will be very hard to achieve. From a technical view it would make much more sense with Hydrogen due to energy density.

A battery electric air plane should have very little cargo capacity... Even at 250Wh/kg to have as much energy as 200L of diesel oil you need something around 4TON of batteries alone.

So it’s a bit strange how Toyota off all companies (so into hydrogen development) is investing so much money on a eVTOL.

They view themselves as a transportation company, not a car manufacturer. It's why they're partnering/JVing into boats, planes, eVTOLs, etc. They're trying to get a toehold into every possible route that the future of mobility to go, so that they can redeploy their resources once they have built a roadmap they are confident in.

 

[Ian Schmidt]

They view themselves as a transportation company, not a car manufacturer. It's why they're partnering/JVing into boats, planes, eVTOLs, etc. They're trying to get a toehold into every possible route that the future of mobility to go, so that they can redeploy their resources once they have built a roadmap they are confident in.

It's quite possible that electrification will lead to something being ideal that's not current cars at all. Cars didn't become great until they stopped being self-propelled horse carriages and became something distinctly different. I feel like a similar trajectory is likely for EVs, so I'm quite interested in all of these concepts and partnerships.

 

[CRSKTN]

It's quite possible that electrification will lead to something being ideal that's not current cars at all. Cars didn't become great until they stopped being self-propelled horse carriages and became something distinctly different. I feel like a similar trajectory is likely for EVs, so I'm quite interested in all of these concepts and partnerships.

Well you see it in the CUV/SUV craze as well. Sedans were, for a long time, simply a more fuel efficient alternative to having an SUV. Then CUVs bridged that gap, and as we go forward we may see it eat up most of the sedan market (if it hasn't already). That said, once you get to the point where big, heavy SUVs are impacting EV range due to weight, you may see some people go back to small, more nimble, longer range vehicles for the money.

That said, maybe not a good look to be putting out materials about your new space-moon-jetbike while you're talking about cutting basic models. If Toyota isn't willing to invest in Lexus currently, does anyone actually see anything of value coming from their concept work (as seen on the front page today)?

The future of transportation is going to be interesting, that's for sure.

 

[ssun30]

Actually, electric propulsion has almost hit the critical point for very light aircraft because ICEs or turbines don't scale down well and most of the cost of operating an aircraft is not related to purchase cost. I don't want to believe it either but I was presented some quite convincing numbers at several conferences. For anything larger than 6 seats though I don't see a future for electric aircraft in at least 30 years.

 

[Sulu]

The next step in ride hailing is the air taxi. And Toyota is not the only automaker investing in eVOTL (electric Vertical Take Off and Landing) aircraft: Hyundai is working with Uber, and Audi is working with Airbus. In my opinion, with so many well-known automotive brands involved in air taxi research and Toyota itself is a large, well-respected automaker and mobility company, it has no choice but to become involved.

Toyota has a venture capital subsidiary, Toyota AI Ventures, that invested in Joby Aviation. Toyota will provide expertise in manufacturing, quality and cost controls to the venture.


Source: Toyota AI Ventures

Based in Silicon Valley, Toyota AI Ventures is a venture capital subsidiary of the Toyota Research Institute (TRI). We invest in entrepreneurs from around the world who share our commitment to improving the quality of human life through artificial intelligence, with a focus on autonomous mobility, robotics, data and cloud.

Leveraging the technical expertise and resources of TRI and the extended Toyota family, our mission is to help early-stage startups bring disruptive innovations and business models to market quickly by offering funding, validation, mentorship, and incubation facilities. The entrepreneurs who partner with us receive much more than money. We believe their success is our success. It is our mission to support them every step of the journey by providing access to a world-class team and a network with global reach, while giving founders the freedom and flexibility they need to experiment and grow their businesses.

We look for innovators who have the courage and tenacity to tackle important challenges we have yet to solve. It’s the same spirit of innovation that inspired Toyota founder Kiichiro Toyoda and his team to devote themselves to transforming Toyota from a loom maker to an automotive manufacturer in the 1930’s. And it is this same vision that continues to drive Toyota today.

Source: Toyota invests $349 million in flying taxi startup Joby Aviation

Toyota just invested $349 million in the flying taxi startup Joby Aviation. The two companies say they will work together, Joby sharing its all-electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) expertise and Toyota lending its knowledge of manufacturing, quality and cost controls to the development and production of Joby's future aircraft.

"Air transportation has been a long-term goal for Toyota, and while we continue our work in the automobile business, this agreement sets our sights to the sky," Toyota Motor Corporation President and CEO Akio Toyoda said in a press release. As part of the deal, Toyota Motor Corp. Executive Vice President Shigeki Tomoyama will join Joby's board of directors.

Toyota isn't the only automaker eyeing the skies. Hyundai is working on a flying taxi concept with Uber and has hired a NASA engineer to run its "flying car" division. Geely (the Chinese automotive group which manufactures Volvo and Lotus cars) and Daimler have both invested in Volocopter, and Rolls-Royce has its own eVTOL concept.