Toyota puts another $500 million in an air taxi startup

Toyota is investing another $500 million in Joby Aviation to support the air taxi startup’s certification and commercial production of eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft for use in a ridehailing service. The automaker has now invested a total of $894 million since 2018.

Toyota’s investment will come in the form of two $250 million tranches, the first of which will be completed this year and the second in 2025. The automaker will also establish a manufacturing alliance with Joby for the first commercialization phase. The companies had signed an agreement in 2023 to let Toyota make powertrain components for Joby’s air taxi.

The California-based Joby Aviation is run by JoeBen Bevirt, who started the company in 2009. The company operated under the radar until its big $100 million investment round in 2018, which included participation from Intel, Toyota, and JetBlue.

The money helped Joby develop a prototype and conduct test flights on a private airfield in Northern California. Toyota liked what it saw and sent its own engineers over to work side by side with Joby Aviation.

Joby’s all-electric aircraft has six rotors and seats five, including the pilot. The vehicle can take off vertically, like a helicopter, and then shift into forward flight using tilt rotors. Joby says it can reach a top speed of 200mph, travel 150 miles on a single battery charge, and is 100 times quieter than a conventional aircraft.

The company recently performed a few exhibition flights in Manhattan and plans to start flying commercial passengers in places like New York City and Los Angeles in 2025.