The Jetsons was set in 2062, but a vehicle George Jetson might be comfortable taking his kids to school in could be here a lot sooner. Joby Aviation, a key player in the eVTOL— electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle—market, has received Federal Aviation Administration to begin flight testing its new production prototype, TechCrunch reports. The special airworthiness certificate keeps the company on course to deliver the aircraft to the US Air Force next year, which Joby says would be the first eVTOL ever delivered to a customer. The company plans to launch an electric air taxi service in 2025.
"The aircraft will now undergo initial flight testing before being delivered to Edwards Air Force Base, California, where it will be used to demonstrate a range of potential logistics use cases," Joby said in a press release. The aircraft, which has a flight range of up to 100 miles, can take off and land like a helicopter and reach flight speeds of up to 200mph, per New Scientist. It can carry up to four passengers and the company says it is "nearly silent in cruise mode and 100 times quieter than conventional aircraft during takeoff and landing," Engadget reports.
The prototype was built on the company's assembly line in California, in partnership with Toyota, its biggest investor. "This first aircraft coming off our pilot manufacturing line is a really, really big deal for the company," Joby founder and CEO JoeBen Bevirt tells TechCrunch. He says the manufacturing line can build tens of aircraft per year and the company is working with Toyota—which has a "significant number of engineers on site with us working shoulder to shoulder here in California"—on building a facility that can produce the eVTOLs in larger quantities. (More flying car stories.)
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