MARINA – Joby Aviation has made record progress on the fourth of five stages required for commercial passenger service in the U.S. and expects to carry its first passengers late this year or early next year the company recently announced in its shareholder letter.
The company also announced it had delivered a second aircraft to the Air Force, in its Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2024 Shareholder Letter.
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Joby, which has facilities in Marina, is developing electric air taxis, designed to carry a pilot and four passengers, for commercial passenger service. The air taxis can reach speeds up to 200 mph, offering high-speed mobility with a fraction of the noise produced by helicopters and zero operating emissions.
In December, Joby also became the first company to fly an electric air taxi as part of Korea’s K-UAM Grand Challenge which was launched in 2023 by Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to support the commercialization of air taxis in the Korean market.
The company also reported it received more than $1 billion of additional funding and commitments in the fourth quarter.
Joby ended the fourth quarter of 2024 with $933 million in cash, cash equivalents and investments in marketable securities, according to the company. This balance does not include expected Toyota investments totaling $500 million, to be made in two equal tranches of $250 million. All regulatory approvals are now in place for the first tranche of this investment to be made.
The shareholder letter detailed Joby Aviation’s operational and financial results for the period ending Dec. 31, 2024.
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“The sector-leading progress we made throughout 2024 puts Joby in a great position to capitalize on the opportunities presented by America’s renewed focus on innovation and manufacturing,” said Joby Aviation Founder and CEO JoeBen Bevirt in a press release.
Joby Aviation reported that it made record progress on the fourth of five stages required to certify its aircraft for commercial passenger use in the U.S., and expects Type Inspection Authorization flight testing to begin in the next 12 months.
As well as delivering record progress on certification, Joby scaled its manufacturing, delivered a second aircraft to Edwards Air Force Base and flew 561 miles with a hybrid, hydrogen-electric variant of the Joby aircraft, bringing the flight test fleet to a total of five aircraft, said Bevirt.
The aviation company has been doing business in Marina for about the past seven years, where it launched production of its aircraft at its Pilot Production Plant with the first aircraft rolling off the line in June 2023.
Along with the recently delivered aircraft to the U.S. military, in September 2023, Joby Aviation delivered the first aircraft of its Pilot Production Line in Marina to Edwards Air Force Base as part of Joby’s up to $131 million Agility Prime contract with the Air Force.
Last June, Joby successfully completed a flight above Marina of its first-of-its-kind hydrogen-electric technology demonstrator aircraft. Joby’s hydrogen-electric demonstrator is part of the company’s future technology program and is the result of several years of collaboration between a small team at Joby and H2FLY, Joby’s wholly-owned subsidiary based in Stuttgart, Germany. The converted Joby aircraft previously completed more than 25,000 miles of testing as a battery-electric aircraft at Joby’s facility in Marina.
Along with its operations at the Marina Municipal Airport, Joby Aviation has offices and workshops and is headquartered in Santa Cruz, as well as facilities in San Carlos, Washington, D.C. and Munich, Germany. In September 2023, Joby chose Dayton, Ohio, as the site for its new manufacturing plant.
Last April, with the second production prototype aircraft to roll off its pilot production line in Marina as a backdrop, Joby broke ground on its new 220,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Marina, which is expected to begin operations in 2025.
In addition to developing a world-class manufacturing facility in Marina, Joby Aviation also has its integrated test lab and flight-testing capabilities there with the company saying its expansion will more than double its total footprint at the Marina Municipal Airport, enabling the company to deliver 25 aircraft a year.
“The next 12 months mark a critical inflection point, not just for Joby, but for our entire industry, as we look ahead to carrying our first passengers, and I’m proud that Joby continues to lead the way toward this new era of flight,” said Bevirt.