Air Taxi Company Getting $500M More from Toyota; $894M Total

Toyota is investing $500 million into flying taxi company Joby Aviation, bringing its total investment in the electric aerial vehicle (EAV) maker to $894 million,

Toyota has been investing in Joby since 2019, starting with Toyota Ventures, in addition to sharing knowledge of the Toyota systems for planning, manufacturing methods and tooling design. 

That initial investment grew to $394 million and Toyota engineers now work side-by-side with Joby staff in California

Toyota Motor Corporation Operating Officer Tetsuo “Ted” Ogawa and Joby Aviation's founder and CEO, JoeBen Bevirt. Credit: Joby Aviation

Joby and Toyota last year signed a long-term agreement for Toyota to supply key powertrain and actuation components for Joby’s EAVs. 

The new investment is scheduled in two parts, one later this year and the second in 2025.

“Today’s investment builds on nearly seven years of collaboration between our companies,” said JoeBen Bevirt, founder and CEO of Joby Aviation. “The knowledge and support shared by Toyota have been instrumental in Joby’s success and we look forward to deepening our relationship as we deliver on our shared vision for the future of air travel.” 

The financing also includes plans to establish a manufacturing alliance for the first phase of commercialization.

Joby recently applied to become the first certified air taxi operator in the United Arab Emirates.

Joby already has partnership with the UAE through a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Municipalities and Transport Abu Dhabi, the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development and the Department of Culture and Tourism, setting Joby up to establish and scale flying taxi services in Abu Dhabi and beyond.

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The Joby electric flying taxi is designed to carry a pilot and four passengers and travel up to 200 mph. The company plans to operate its EAVs in New York City and Los Angeles along with its partner Delta Air Lines.

Joby has raised more than $2 billion from Toyota, Delta Air Lines, SK Telecom and Uber and has logged more than 33,00 miles of flight with a full-scale prototype, according to the company.

While Joby is partnered with Delta, Archer Aviation, the other major air taxi company, has a partnership with United Airlines.