Electric aviation startup Joby says it is nearing federal approval to operate an air taxi service in NYC.
Photo by Ben Brachfeld
Sullen New Yorkers attempting to reach the airport by car or transit may soon have another option: an electric “air taxi.”
California-based electric aviation startup Joby on Thursday rolled out its prototype “electric vertical take-off and landing” (eVTOL) at Grand Central Terminal, which it says is in the penultimate stage of the approval process from the Federal Aviation Administration.
The machine, featuring six overhead propellers, can take off like a helicopter and, when at cruising altitude, fly through the sky like an airplane. It can seat four passengers plus a pilot with a 1,000-pound payload, has a range of about 100 miles, and can reach a maximum speed of 200 miles per hour.
That means Joby can get New Yorkers from lower Manhattan to JFK Airport in seven minutes, versus 45 minutes in a cab confined to ground-level roads, the company says.
“Our goal is to help save people time in cities like New York where congestion continues to be a major problem,” said Andy Brehm, head of New York City business development for Joby.
Of course, well-heeled New Yorkers can already take a helicopter service like Blade to the airport. However, such services are increasingly facing pushback from local pols and residents over their excessive noise profile, with many seeking to ban “non-essential” flights like those to the airport or the Hamptons.
While traditional helicopters can produce well over 100 decibels of noise, officials with Joby say the eVTOL produces only about 65 decibels at takeoff and 45 decibels at cruising altitude. That’s “100 times quieter than a helicopter,” said Brehm.
Joby is positioning itself as a leader in the burgeoning eVTOL market.
It’s raised hundreds of millions of dollars in capital from big transportation players like Toyota, Uber, and Delta Airlines. And it’s come a long way since its prototype crashed in 2022 at high speed after losing a propeller blade.
Brehm says the company is now nearing approval for its service from the FAA. The device has been outfitted with numerous redundancies: the six propellers are each attached to two motors, which themselves are wired to two separate inverters, which are wired to two separate batteries, he said.
“The whole aircraft is built with the idea of redundancy being fundamental to how we create the best safety profile that we can to do these types of eVTOL trips,” said Brehm.
Air taxi service could start in locales like Dubai as soon as next year, Gothamist reported.
Mayor Eric Adams has rolled out the welcome mat for eVTOLs, hosting a pilot demonstration last year and ordering any new franchisee of the Downtown Manhattan heliport to install electric charging infrastructure. The company has already reached a deal to install chargers at a heliport across the Hudson River in Kearny, NJ.
The company also isn’t worried about its fortunes changing in the Big Apple should Adams — who is now facing a five-count criminal indictment on federal corruption charges — be out of a job faster than expected.
“The technology that we’re creating has incredible application for a place like New York City,” said Brehm. “So regardless of whoever we’re working with on the city side, I think that we have a really valuable tool that can be added to the transportation system here in New York.”
