Stellantis commits to building eVTOL aircraft
Stellantis makes forward-thinking bet on a different kind of electric future
We all know that the chances of perishing in a plane crash are incredibly low. How low? Well, a recent study by Harvard University put the odds at 1 in 11 million. Your chances of dying in a car crash, meanwhile, are 1 in 5000. Now, what’s that got to do with anything? Not a lot, really. We’re just bringing you some good-old facts to chew on. Food for thought, you might say.
In other, completely unrelated news, Stellantis announced today that it’s joining forces with Archer Aviation to build electric aircraft. Think about that for a moment: the combined reliability record of Peugeot, Citroen, Fiat, Jeep and, not forgetting Alfa Romeo, all wrapped up in something that achieves flight? To be clear, that’s another thought for you to ponder; what conclusion you come to is your own business, and nothing to do with PH.
These aren’t just your typical planes, either. Archer Aviation was founded in 2018, in San Jose, California, with the vision of developing electric vertical take-off and landing planes (eVTOL). The idea is they’ll be used as aerial city taxis – apparently United Airlines has already placed an order for two. By 2030 Archer plans to have 6,000 aircraft in service.
Its production plane is called the Midnight. This is an evolution of Archer’s demonstrator aircraft, the Maker. Midnight uses 12 propellers that can tilt to enable vertical take-off and landings. It has a payload of 1,000 pounds (just under half-a-tonne), which means it can transport up to four passengers plus a pilot quickly between cities. Archer says it can achieve 20 back-to-back flights with a 10-minute booster charge after each touchdown.
Midnight is scheduled to be FAA certified by the end of 2024 and operational by 2025. Its cruising height is approximately 2,000 feet, and, because it’s electric, it emits zero local operating emissions. It is relatively quiet as well – in the region of 1,000-times quieter than a typical helicopter. Stellantis says it has been brought on board to bring ‘advanced manufacturing technology and expertise, experienced personnel and capital to the partnership. This combination is intended to enable the rapid scaling of aircraft production to meet Archer’s commercialisation plans.’
More specifically, Stellantis will help to stand up the factory in Covington, Georgia that Archer will use to begin producing the Midnight next year. On top of that, Stellantis has offered up to $150 million in equity capital for Archer to draw upon at its discretion in 2023 and 2024 – although this is subject to Archer reaching certain business milestones. In the future, Stellantis also intends to increase its shareholding in Archer and become ‘a long-term, cornerstone investor’ in the aviation manufacturer.
Carlos Tavares, Stellantis CEO, said, “We’ve been working closely with Archer for the past two years, and I am continually impressed by their ingenuity and unwavering commitment to deliver. Deepening our partnership with Archer as a strategic investor with plans for growing our shareholding demonstrates how Stellantis is pushing the boundaries to provide sustainable freedom of mobility, from the road to the sky. Supporting Archer with our manufacturing expertise is another example of how Stellantis will lead the way the world moves.”
Here’s the thing. Sony and Honda today released news of its latest car, and like every other prototype these days it seems to offer nothing new or vaguely useful. So whatever you may think about Stellantis and its curious collection of international brands, let's give it its due. At least it is getting involved in a vision of future mobility that is genuinely innovative, rather than just throwing around some soundbites. Of course, it isn't alone in investing in the as-yet-unproven idea of airworthy taxis - and people have been tentatively kicking around the concept of flying cars for decades - but as modest punts go, it seems like a decent one. Whether or not it's a prescient one too, we'll have to wait to see...
Go to Biggin Hill and once the exec jets land and disgorge their humongous cargo of 4 passengers with their 24 LV and Gucci suitcases and this is where the market is targeted. Biggin offer a very busy 6 minute helicopter taxi service to Battersea or London City and most zelebs/rich will take that than mix on the A20 with us hoi polloi
All automotive and aviation start ups struggle to get economies of scale when it comes to manufacture because we lack the purchasing power of the big boys. I'd argue its the biggest barrier to entry out there. Its pretty easy to design something which looks pretty. Making it is the hard bit.
Tesla are the only new manufacturer which has gone mainstream in the last 50 years, and they're only just getting on top of the manufacturing side of it after 14 years. If Stellantis can throw their purchasing power and manufacturing experience behind these guys then they'll have a hell of a head start.
Then again the cynic in me wonders how deep the manufacturing support will be - a few young engineers on secondment, and this is more of a "strategic partnership" press release to generate a few website hits? Who knows....
Dying in a plane crash or from a plane crash ? There's quite a difference and I know which I'd rather be in if I was having a crash.
Dying in a plane crash or from a plane crash ? There's quite a difference and I know which I'd rather be in if I was having a crash.
Dying in a plane crash or from a plane crash ? There's quite a difference and I know which I'd rather be in if I was having a crash.
No thanks…!
No different to range anxiety in a Avgas/JetA1 fuelled aircraft? You still can't just stop where you like to fill up.Given that the last time I was in an Avgas fuelled aircraft we ended up making an emergency landing without clearance at an airport that turned out to be closed (reminded me of The Langoliers by Stephen King walking around the apron and seeing the empty control tower), with me and the pilot then nearly getting arrested by the Gendarmerie, dinosaur fuel isn't always a perfect solution.
How about they stop w
k fantasies like this and focus on either sorting out or killing some of the stty ex FCA brands that are circling the drain?Right now diesels are doing a damn good job of dragging them underwater.
I didn’t know that !
No thanks…!
No different to range anxiety in a Avgas/JetA1 fuelled aircraft? You still can't just stop where you like to fill up.I dont think anyone will be getting in an electric plane and saying we have 100 miles, its 95 so we should be fine.
Its a much bigger ask electrifying aviation vs passenger cars, but it needs to be investigated, cant see a replacement for a jet powered Airbus A350 that can do nearly 10,000 miles without refueling, but for short hops like this is intended for it sounds at least fairly plausible. As battery tech improves that might mean longer ranges.
It may seem fanciful, but then until 75 years ago there was no such thing as a jet airliner anyway, its not that long ago in the scheme of things.
No thanks…!
No different to range anxiety in a Avgas/JetA1 fuelled aircraft? You still can't just stop where you like to fill up.I dont think anyone will be getting in an electric plane and saying we have 100 miles, its 95 so we should be fine.
Its a much bigger ask electrifying aviation vs passenger cars, but it needs to be investigated, cant see a replacement for a jet powered Airbus A350 that can do nearly 10,000 miles without refueling, but for short hops like this is intended for it sounds at least fairly plausible. As battery tech improves that might mean longer ranges.
It may seem fanciful, but then until 75 years ago there was no such thing as a jet airliner anyway, its not that long ago in the scheme of things.
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