Joby Tests Electric Flight in Japan

<p><strong>SUSONO&comma; Japan &amp&semi; SANTA CRUZ&comma; CA<&sol;strong> &&num;8212&semi; Toyota Motor Corporation and Joby Aviation&comma; a company developing electric air taxis for commercial passenger service&comma; announced the completion of Joby’s first international exhibition flight which took place at Toyota’s Higashi-Fuji Technical Center in Shizuoka&comma; Japan earlier this month&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The flight&comma; completed within sight of Mount Fuji&comma; marked an opportunity to demonstrate the low acoustic footprint of Joby’s emissions-free aircraft and celebrate nearly seven years of collaboration between the two companies&comma; during which time Toyota has supported Joby by providing insights from its extensive automotive manufacturing and technology expertise&period; Toyota engineers now work side-by-side with the Joby team in California and&comma; in 2023&comma; the two companies signed a long-term agreement for Toyota to supply key powertrain and actuation components for the production of Joby’s aircraft&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;Our first overseas flight marks a significant milestone on our journey towards making clean air travel an everyday reality&comma;” said JoeBen Bevirt&comma; Founder and CEO of Joby&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;We share Toyota’s vision for the future of mobility and are honored to have had the opportunity to present a glimpse of that future through our flight in Japan&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>A wide range of stakeholders gathered at the test facility for an event to celebrate the exhibition flight and historic milestone&comma; including Akio Toyoda&comma; Chairman of Toyota Motor Corporation&comma; and representatives of Japan’s Civil Aviation Bureau&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>At the event&comma; Hiroki Nakajima&comma; executive vice president and chief technology officer of Toyota Motor Corporation&comma; said&colon; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Air mobility has the potential to change our &OpenCurlyQuote;sense of distance and time&comma;’ and open a future with the new option of air mobility that will further enrich the lives of many people&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Toyota is committed to deepening our collaboration with Joby and we will continue to work together to realize our shared dreams&comma;” he continued&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Joby’s electric air taxi is designed to carry a pilot and four passengers at speeds of up to 200 mph&comma; offering high-speed mobility with zero operating emissions and a fraction of the noise produced by helicopters&period; This new mobility service aims to reduce traffic congestion&comma; minimize environmental impact&comma; and provide transportation solutions for urban and rural regions&comma; demonstrating the potential to address various transportation challenges in Japan and around the world&period; Joby was founded in 2009 and has since completed thousands of test flights&comma; including exhibition flights from the iconic Downtown Manhattan Heliport in New York City&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The news comes weeks after Toyota committed to invest an additional &dollar;500 million in Joby&comma; to support the certification and commercial production of the Company’s electric air taxi&period; The additional funds will bring Toyota Motor Corporation’s total investment in Joby to &dollar;894 million and include plans to establish a manufacturing alliance to support the first phase of commercialization&period; The investment will be made in two equal tranches and is subject to standard regulatory approvals and certain other conditions&comma; finalization of collaborative and commercial agreements and&comma; with respect to the second tranche&comma; the finalization of terms related to a strategic alliance focused on commercial manufacturing and certain other conditions&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;