Chrysler teams up with aerospace startup Archer to build an electric air taxi

The electric air taxi market is beginning to get crowded and the big tech companies are jumping into the eVTOL space before it gets too crowded. Early last year, we wrote about Volocopter after the flying taxi startup landed a $94 million Series C funding to usher in a new era of air taxi services

Now, Fiat Chrysler is joining the bandwagon with its partnership with San Francisco, California-based aerospace startup Archer. Today, Archer and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement to enable Archer to benefit from access to FCA’s low-cost supply chain, advanced composite material capabilities, and engineering and design experience.

Founded in 2020 by Adam Goldstein and Brett Adcock, the California-based Archer is an aerospace company building an all-electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft focused on improving mobility in cities. The company’s mission is to advance the benefits of sustainable air mobility. Archer is designing, manufacturing, and operating a fully electric aircraft that can carry four passengers for 60 miles at speeds of up to 150mph while producing minimal noise.

Archer is creating the world’s first all-electric airline that moves people throughout the world’s cities in a quick, safe, sustainable, and cost-effective manner. The new partnership will help accelerate Archer’s timeline in becoming an industry leader with the resources and capabilities to capitalize on the new era of sustainable air mobility, a market that Morgan Stanley estimates will be $1.5 trillion by 2040.

As part of the partnership agreement, Archer will manufacture high-volume, composite, electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, with the intent of starting production in 2023. FCA, the parent company of established automobile brands including Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram, has already collaborated on cockpit design elements of Archer’s first aircraft which is expected to be unveiled in early 2021. The 100% electric aircraft will be capable of traveling distances of up to 60 miles at 150 mph. Through this announced collaboration, the companies will work together to significantly decrease the cost of production, enabling Archer to bring affordably priced services to customers via its ultra-quiet, high-performance eVTOL aircraft.

“We’ve been hyper-focused on a customer-first approach to vehicle design and aircraft operations,” said Brett Adcock, Co-Founder & Co-CEO of Archer. “Now we are working with a seasoned, industry-leading automotive partner to leverage cost benefits and experience that will allow Archer to produce thousands of aircraft reliably and affordably every single year.”

“Electrification within the transportation sector, whether on roads or in the air is the future and with any new and rapidly developing technology, scale is important,” said Doug Ostermann, Vice President and Head of Global Business Development of FCA. “Our partnership with Archer has mutual benefits and will enable innovative, environmentally-friendly transportation solutions to be brought to market at an accelerated pace.”

“We are excited to team up with one of the world’s largest automotive companies on our mission of advancing the benefits of sustainable air mobility,” said Adam Goldstein, Co-Founder & Co-CEO of Archer. “This is a first-of-its-kind deal for one of Detroit’s Big Three automakers in moving into the Urban Air Mobility space. There is now a clear path for Archer to bring mass production to this industry, changing the way people travel in and around cities forever.”