Joby has been approved to conduct air taxi flight tests in the United States, and Toyota North American CEO will join the board of directors.

CTOnews.com, June 29 (Reuters)-Toyota-backed Joby Aviation announced yesterday that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has approved its electric air taxi for flight testing, bringing it one step closer to commercial approval.

▲ Tuyuan Joby Aviation Toyota, Joby's largest outside shareholder, has invested about $400m in the company (CTOnews.com Note: currently about 2.896 billion yuan). Joby also said yesterday that Tetsuo Ogawa, chief executive of Toyota North America, will join the Joby board on Saturday.

Joby plans to start commercial passenger services in 2025, and unlike other aircraft manufacturers that plan to sell electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles (eVTOL) to customers such as airlines and logistics companies, Joby's business model is similar to the ride-sharing app, which operates the passenger business on its own.

Joby said FAA had granted it a special certificate of airworthiness, allowing its first mass-production prototype to fly without passengers.

Archer, a competitor to Joby, was granted flight test permits in 2021, but several eVTOL manufacturers, including Vertical Aerospace and Lilium, voluntarily postponed the test deadline, highlighting the many challenges that still need to be addressed in this emerging area.

Joby had previously signed a $131 million (currently about 948 million yuan) contract with the US Air Force to deliver the first two electric aircraft in March 2024. Joby said it would deliver the aircraft to Edwards Air Force Base after preliminary tests.