Toyota is betting on the ambition to conquer the sky on an emerging taxi manufacturer

Taxi aviation is one of the potential investment fields in the world. A series of billion-dollar businesses have announced plans to invest in services that are supposed to be trends in this future transportation industry, including Google, Apple, Uber, and now Toyota.

Japanese car giant has just pumped a huge $ 394 million investment package into California-based Emerging Aviation Company, Joby Aviation, which is famous for its research and development project. Electric-powered aircraft that can take off and land completely vertically (eVTOL) are expected to be used in low-cost civil air transport services in densely populated cities.

In addition to investing money, the Japanese automaker will also share its expertise in manufacturing, quality control as well as the cost of supporting the Joby flight taxi development and production project. In fact, the idea of ​​developing a flying taxi has been conceived by Joby for a long time, but technological limitations and especially that made this potential project face many obstacles. Therefore, Toyota's investment plays an extremely important role in the survival of the project.

'We are building a new civil transport system that can change the lives of all mankind, with greater safety and, saving more time, at the same cost as conventional cars. In particular, not only the task of transporting goods, these flying taxis can also carry people with high safety, operating under strict control from the ground. Our partnership agreement with Toyota represents an unprecedented commitment both financially and technologically in this promising field, '' Joe Ben Bevirt, founder and CEO of Joby Aviation, said in a statement. interview.

By design, each Joby flying taxi will have 5 seats, meaning that it can carry 5 adults, take off / land vertically like a helicopter. It can reach a maximum speed of up to 320km / h and cross a distance of 240km on a full charge. In particular, Joby is confident that this taxi will be 100 times quieter than conventional aircraft during takeoff and landing, and almost no noise when flying in the air - extremely suitable for Purpose of use in urban.

Toyota President and CEO Akio Toyoda once described air transport as an extremely important long-term goal of the company. And to quickly dominate the market with effective investments is of course indispensable.

Flying taxis are no longer found only in sci-fi stories and movies, but will enter the real world and serve modern human life. According to predictions by Boston Consulting Group, by 2030, there will be more than 1 billion fixed journeys successfully completed by airplanes around the world.