Toyota Motor will invest an additional $500 million in Joby Aviation, a producer of electric vertical landing and takeoff (eVTOL) aircraft. 

The investment is intended to support certification and commercial production of Joby’s new electric air taxis, which the two companies view as “the future of air travel.” 

Toyota views the investment as a continuation of the vision of Kiichiro Toyoda, who changed the company’s focus from automatic loom manufacturing to automobile manufacturing, thereby transforming Toyota into a true mobility company. 

“We share Joby’s view that sustainable flight will be central to alleviating today’s persistent mobility challenges,” said Tetsuo Ogawa, CEO of Toyota Motor North America. 

One year ago, Joby announced plans to whisk New Yorkers from midtown Manhattan to John F. Kennedy International Airport via its electric flying machine. It even took the now-beleaguered Mayor Eric Adams on a seven-minute test flight to prove its point that a seven-minute commute to JFK in a quiet, green EVA, or electric vertical aircraft, was possible versus a likely one-hour ride in a yellow cab or a far less green and more noisy Sikorsky S-76 such as those operated currently by Blade to the city’s airports. 

The Japanese automaker’s new funding contribution is in addition to its previous $394 million investment in Joby and is also part of a strategic alliance on commercial manufacturing that the two will establish. 

JoeBen Bevirt, Joby’s founder and CEO, noted when announcing the deal that the investment marks “nearly seven years of collaboration” between the two companies. 

“The knowledge and support shared by Toyota has been instrumental in Joby’s success,” Bevirt said. 

Toyota said that the investment will be in the form of cash for common stock in two equal tranches. The first tranche is set to close later in 2024 and the second in 2025. 

Source: Toyota Motor