Toyota invests another $500M in electric air taxi startup Joby Aviation

Just four years after making its first big bet on electric air taxis with $394 million in the California-based startup Joby Aviation, Toyota is ramping up its commitment with an additional $500 million investment.

Toyota announced on Wednesday that it will invest another half a billion dollars to help Joby achieve certification and scale up commercial production of its electric air taxi. This latest round of funding brings Toyota’s total investment in Joby to $894 million. The funds will be delivered in two equal installments: the first later this year and the second in 2025.

This new capital will support Joby’s progress through the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Type 2 certification process, which is now in its fourth of five stages. The funding will also fuel Joby’s push to bring its electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft to market, with plans to launch commercial air taxi services by 2025.

Joby is actively moving toward commercialization. The company recently expanded its manufacturing footprint in California and broke ground on a new facility to accommodate its growing production needs.

“We share Joby’s vision that sustainable flight will play a key role in solving today’s mobility challenges,” said Ted Ogawa, CEO of Toyota Motor North America.

Toyota is already Joby’s largest external shareholder, and this new investment further solidifies their close partnership. “This deepens our collaboration with Toyota as we work together to shape the future of transportation,” said Joby CEO JoeBen Bevirt.

The announcement comes about a year after Joby set a target to begin its commercial air taxi service by 2025. In November of last year, Joby gave New Yorkers a glimpse of that future, showcasing how its electric air taxis could transport passengers from JFK Airport to Manhattan in just seven minutes.

Joby recently celebrated rolling out its third aircraft from its pilot production line in Marina, California and is on track to more than double its production capacity at its expanded facility.

Founded in 2009 by JoeBen Bevirt, Joby has spent over a decade developing and refining its eVTOL aircraft, which is designed to be a commercial air taxi service in urban areas. The company’s five-seat, piloted aircraft can take off and land vertically, fly at speeds up to 200 miles per hour, and cover more than 150 miles on a single charge. It’s also remarkably quiet—100 times quieter than conventional aircraft during takeoff and landing, and nearly silent when flying overhead—making it ideal for urban environments.

In 2020, Joby acquired Uber’s air taxi division, Elevate, as part of a broader partnership, which included Uber investing $75 million into Joby. The company went public in 2021 through a merger with Reinvent Technology Partners, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) led by LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and Zynga founder Mark Pincus.

Toyota’s involvement with Joby goes beyond financial backing. Since 2019, the automaker has shared its expertise in manufacturing, helping Joby streamline production processes using the Toyota Production System. Toyota engineers now work alongside the Joby team in California, and in 2023, the companies signed a long-term agreement for Toyota to supply key powertrain components for Joby’s aircraft.

Joby has made significant progress in the electric aviation space, logging over 30,000 miles with its full-scale prototype aircraft and delivering the first electric air taxi to the U.S. Air Force for testing. The company is currently in the third phase of FAA certification and expects to launch its passenger service in 2025, with pricing projected to be competitive with traditional ridesharing services.

In March 2023, Joby appointed former FAA Administrator Michael Huerta to its Board of Directors, further reinforcing its commitment to regulatory compliance and safety as it moves toward commercial launch.