The future of taxi transportation might be changing from the road to the sky. And it could be coming soon to a major city near you soon.
What’s happening:
- Santa Clara, California based electric aircraft company Archer Aviation (NYSE: ACHR) recently announced a major deal with Air Chateau to bring their electric air taxi’s to Dubai
- The $500M purchase of Archer’s flagship aircraft, known as Midnight, will accelerate their plans to officially launching in the UAE
- Air Chateau is one of the largest private aviation companies in the entire UAE and plans to independently operate the aircraft
The big idea:
- Archer has developed a small electric vehicle vertical takeoff and landing aircraft that is powered by six independent battery packs which support their electric engines
- The Midnight aircraft is able to turn commutes that could take hours in a densely populated urban city into minutes
Going deeper:
- Archer recently announced a similar partnership deal in India that will aim to launch air taxi routes in Delhi and Mumbai
- The Federal Aviation Administration recently granted Archer approval to begin testing their flights in the United States, a critical step to being able to make their aircraft publicly available in North America
By the numbers:
- The Midnight aircraft is capable of flying back to back 20 minute flights with only 12 minutes of downtime for charging in between
- Each electric taxi aircraft can comfortably seat four passengers and a pilot
- Archer is hoping to launch in both Dubai and India by 2026
- The United States Air Force has committed $142M in purchases with Archer
The intrigue:
- Airline giants Boeing and United Airlines are two large investors in Archer
