Toyota injects 400 million dollars into flying taxi project
Baku, January 16, AZERTAC
Japanese car giant Toyota announced Thursday that it will invest $ 394 million (about 353 million euros) in Joby Aviation, a California start-up that develops an electric aircraft for mobility services on demand in urban areas, according to AFP.
This investment, made within the framework of a fundraising of 590 million dollars by Joby Aviation, is a new sign of the intensification of Toyotas efforts to become a global giant of new mobilities.
“Air transport has been a long-term objective for Toyota although it continues to operate in the automobile sector, this agreement turns our eyes to the sky,” said Toyota President Akio Toyoda, quoted in a group statement.
Founded in 2009, Joby Aviation develops a small five-seater electric plane with vertical take-off and landing, like a helicopter. The future machine will have an autonomy of 240 km and a maximum speed of 320 km / h. Supported by several foreign investors and companies since its inception, Joby Aviation announced last month a partnership with the American giant of vehicles with driver, Uber, which eventually launches a flying taxi service to the horizon of 2023.
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