Toyota and Joby Aviation strengthens partnership

The electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft that Joby Aviation is currently developing will be equipped with “key powertrain and actuation components” from the Toyota Motor Corporation of Japan.

“Our partnership with Toyota continues to be an integral part of Joby’s success, from assisting in the design of our pilot production line in Marina, California, to supplying key components for our aircraft,” JoeBen Bevirt, Joby founder and chief executive, said.

The arrangement expands on prior collaborations “on a wide variety of projects to support the production and assembly of the Joby aircraft,” according to Joby, a California-based aerospace manufacturer of tiny vertical-lift aircraft designed as air taxis. Toyota has also already made a $400 million investment in Joby.

“The components, designed by Joby and manufactured by Toyota, will be delivered to Joby’s powertrain and electronics manufacturing facility in San Carlos, California, before the finished assemblies are shipped to the company’s pilot production line in Marina for integration,” Joby says.

“Our mutual goal is mass production of eVTOL and helping Joby apply the best practices of the Toyota production system in meeting high quality, reliability, safety and strict cost standards,” adds Keiji Yamamoto, president of Toyota Motor Corporation Connected Company.

“We are excited about the potential for further collaboration as we seek to realise mobility for all with a seamlessly integrated air-to-ground mobility network,” he says.

In January 2020, Joby and Toyota first declared their collaboration. The automaker claimed at the time that its main objective was to use developing technologies to provide mobility for all people. Toyota would “share its expertise in manufacturing, quality, and cost controls for the development and production of Joby Aviation’s breakthrough eVTOL aircraft” in addition to investing $394 million in Joby.

A $55 million extension to Joby’s Agility Prime contract with the US Air Force (USAF) to deploy and operate up to nine of its uncertified aircraft was made public earlier this week. Now Joby’s contract with the USAF is worth $131 million.

Along with California-based rival Archer Aviation, Joby is regarded as a leader in the eVTOL industry’s race to market and plans to begin passenger service with its eVTOL in 2025.