It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s your Uber? The futuristic fantasy of taxis soaring above congested city streets flew closer to reality today when Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced a $500 million investment in a Dayton-area production facility for the lofty livery vehicles.
Santa Cruz, California-based Joby Aviation, which accepted $325 million in government incentives to open the 140-acre plant, is just one company racing to bring the hotly-anticipated electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle (eVTOL) to market as early as 2025. These relatively quiet, high-tech cabs have the capability of taking off and landing vertically, traveling at considerable speeds, and covering distances comparable to some old-model electric cars. They have been garnering increasing attention, with airlines like United partnering with manufacturers to turn this once-pie-in-the-sky dream into a reality.
Blade, a company in this field, has already announced the upcoming launch of swift, near-silent service from Midtown Manhattan to the Hamptons. Wing, a Google subsidiary, has also utilized eVTOL vehicles for package delivery. Astonishingly, some of these vehicles do not even require a pilot’s license to operate.
Flying Taxis Taking Off in Ohio
Joby, which has accumulated about 30,000 hours on prototypes of its drone-like craft, capable of carrying four passengers and a pilot, aims to begin offering ride-sharing services by 2025. The company’s website claims that flying with them would feel more like getting into an SUV than boarding a plane, suggesting that a 7-minute trip from lower Manhattan to JFK would be feasible.
With major partnerships already secured with transportation and tech giants like Toyota, Delta Air Lines, and Intel, Joby has purchased Uber Elevate and plans to manufacture up to 500 eVTOLs per year in Ohio.
The selected site for the 2,000 new jobs created by this venture is in close proximity to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, where the headquarters of the Air Force Research Laboratory are located.
Joby, founded in 2009 and now publicly traded, became the first eVTOL firm to be awarded an airworthiness certification by the US Air Force in 2021. “This manufacturing facility is a significant signal that Ohio is looking to the future,” said Gov. DeWine, highlighting the state’s strong manufacturing prowess.
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