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Wall Street has found a combination even more fashionable than blank check companies and electric vehicles: blank check companies and Jetsons-style flying taxis. While the idea is promising, investors have better hope that it isn’t too glamorous in one.
Electric air taxi developer Archer announced on Wednesday a merger with Atlas Crest Investment, a special purpose acquisition firm, or SPAC, led by billionaire investment banker Ken Moelis. In a SPAC, investors donate money to a listed sponsor in the hope that they will find an attractive acquisition target, without knowing what it will be. The SPAC frenzy of the past few months has focused on electric vehicles as well as other “cool” startups such as space travel company Virgin Galactic.
Archer will have a valuation of $ 3.8 billion and receive $ 1.1 billion in additional funding. The company’s proposal is to develop an electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle, or eVTOL, that can carry four passengers over congested urban areas for distances of up to 60 miles. Futurists have long expected people to fly for work like they do in Hanna-Barbera’s famous cartoon “The Jetsons”. Now, investors and businesses are taking it seriously.
United Airlines and Mesa Airlines said on Wednesday they had placed a billion dollar order for Archer’s plane. The idea is to transport people from populated areas to United’s hubs – for example, from Hollywood to Los Angeles International Airport – by 2024, reducing carbon emissions per passenger by about 50%. . Archer plans to build 10 vehicles that year and grow to 250 by 2025.
Companies trying to develop air taxis range from aerospace manufacturers and airlines to auto makers and tech companies. There are hundreds of models and even the US Air Force has joined in some projects.
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