Palo Alto's Archer Aviation may be fairly fresh out of the blocks in its tilt at the emerging eVTOL air taxi market, but it's assembling some heavy hitters in its corner with today's announcement that it's partnering with Fiat Chrysler Automotive (FCA).
As part of the deal, Archer will "benefit from access to FCA’s low-cost supply chain, advanced composite material capabilities, and engineering and design experience," and it gives FCA the chance to dip its toe into an upcoming urban transport sector projected to be worth as much as US$1.5 trillion in 20 years.
This isn't the first car company to get involved in eVTOLs; Toyota has put a staggering amount of cash and resources behind Joby Aviation, Hyundai has created an entire Urban Air Mobility division and built its own air taxi concept, and every car company worth its salt has rendered up at least one electric air taxi to put on video loop with the weird e-scooters, taxi pods and car sharing apps at its CES "mobility of the future" stand.
The Archer-FCA deal is more of an exploratory design and engineering partnership than a proverbial backing-up of the truck, but it certainly lends further credence to Archer's operation. In a sector where a lot of ideas and hot air are thrown around, Archer hasn't even released a render of its 12-rotor transitioning eVTOL air taxi. But it has thrown serious money at talent, hiring top-level team members away from the likes of Vahana, Joby and Wisk. This is a serious and well-funded operation.
With an office right by Palo Alto airport and an 80 percent scale demonstrator expected to fly this year, Archer is promising a four-seat airframe flying at least 60 miles (96 km) at speeds up to 150 mph (240 km/h) on a large, 143-kWh battery pack. We look forward to learning more.
Source: FCA
