Flying taxi company goes public and calls itself Uber of the Air

Joby Aviation debuted as a New York Stock Exchange listed company on Wednesday, rising more than 25% after it opened for $ 10.62. Joby is currently promising air taxi service to the public by 2024, an ambitious plan for its vertical take-off and landing electric vehicles, known as eVTOL.

What makes Joby’s air taxis better than traditional helicopters? They are electric and they are quieter. Otherwise, they do the exact same thing as a helicopter that can carry four passengers and a pilot. How is Joby going to make it a viable business? Presumably, targeting the wealthy with the promise of fast, ASD-free trips of 150 miles or less.

Joby went public on Wednesday when it merged with a so-called blank check company called Reinvent Technology Partners, run by LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman. Fusion is what is called a PSPC Agreement, which allows companies to go public quickly and with less financial control than a traditional IPO.

The California-based company’s eVTOLs have a range of over 150 miles, according to the Joby Aviation website, and can fly at a top speed of 200 miles per hour. And one of the main selling points is that users will be able to book their trips through an app. In fact, Joby is trying to market himself as the Uber of air travel, even using the term “carpooling” in his press release.

“With its cutting edge technology, we believe Joby is ‘Tesla meets Uber in the air’ and the clear leader in eVTOL and the airline rideshare space,” Hoffman said in a statement.

The problem, of course, is that Uber has adopted the term “carpooling” because its drivers use their own cars and “share” a ride with a stranger. Joby’s business model is not based on pilots ‘sharing’ a ride with anyone. These are pilots hired to do work with planes they don’t own. Or, at least, they will when they finally start operations.

While some media outlets, like Bloomberg News, call Joby’s vehicles “flying cars”, they are not flying cars at all. Flying cars, a promise of the future for over a century, are vehicles that can both be driven on roads and fly through the air. Joby doesn’t care about anything that rolls on the ground. These electric vehicles are exclusively airborne.

And it’s that air-only dream that will probably mean Joby will have an easier time taking off. But easier is not the same as easy. Joby has yet to obtain certification from the Federal Aviation Administration, which could take years. Joby, for his part, says he expects an airworthiness certification by 2022.

Oddly enough, it looks like Joby wants to embark on a side business of green washing with something like carbon credits, according to a report by CNBC:

While the company’s main revenue will come from operating air taxis, it is also looking to generate and sell environmental regulatory credits to other aviation companies who will need to offset their carbon emissions.

It looks a bit like Elon Musk’s Tesla getting into bitcoin. Musk’s electric car side of business may be losing money, but this fake digital currency has skyrocketed in price since Tesla bought it $ 1.5 billion worth it.

And if Joby’s marketing push as the next Uber doesn’t put him on top, the company is going to lean heavily on the environmentalist angle.

“Aviation connects the world in extremely important ways, but today it does so at the expense of our planet,” JoeBen Bevirt, founder and CEO of Joby, said in a statement. Press release.

“By making Joby public, we have the opportunity to lead an aviation renaissance, making emission-free flying a part of everyday life. This is the defining moment of our generation, and at Joby, we are proud to support each other.

Does a fleet of electric helicopters sound good to you? It’s certain. Will the company find enough customers for what will likely be a rather expensive air taxi ride? We will find out in the next few years.