Stellantis and Archer Aviation are strengthening their partnership with an even larger financial commitment. In fact, the Stellantis Group has decided to invest another $55 million in Archer Aviation, bringing the total investment to an impressive $204 million.
Stellantis and Archer Aviation mean business: further investment and a U.S. factory for Midnight flying cabs by the end of 2024
This new funding comes after Archer’s recent success in completing a crucial test flight, demonstrating the feasibility and potential of its eVTOLs (electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft). In fact, a few days ago, on July 2, news came of the additional $55 million investment, which points out the strong partnership between the Stellantis Group and Archer Aviation as it continues to grow.
This is an impressive move for the Stellantis Group that underscores its confidence in Archer Aviation’s potential to revolutionize the way we move around cities. This will provide faster, more efficient and sustainable urban air transportation in the future. In addition to financial support, Stellantis offers Archer Aviation its expertise in key areas such as manufacturing, supply chain, and design. This support is critical to the realization of Archer Aviation’s ambitious plans, which include the construction of the first high-volume manufacturing facility in the United States by the end of the year.
Actually, the American company Archer, based in Palo Alto, California, is building a large factory in Georgia, USA, to produce its flying cabs, called Midnight. This factory will be completed by the end of 2024 and will have the capacity to produce 650 flying cabs per year, making it one of the largest such factories in the world. The first stage of the work will in fact involve the construction of a plant of about 32,500 square meters on an area of 40 hectares. Positioning itself as one of the largest mass production sites in the aircraft industry, Archer’s goal is to create a scalable factory that can support its future growth by leveraging Stellantis’ expertise in subcontracting. In fact, Stellantis is helping Archer build the factory and has also invested more money in the project. Midnight flying cabs are designed for short urban trips, such as going to the airport or to work. Archer and Stellantis hope this will help make cities more livable and reduce traffic congestion.
Archer Aviation has a vision to transform short city commutes into fast, affordable and safe flights. Its eVTOLs (electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft) such as the Archer Midnight, designed to carry four passengers, promise to revolutionize the urban transportation landscape by offering a more efficient and sustainable alternative to automobiles. This is transportation with rapid consecutive flights with minimal recharging time between flights, making it ideal for an efficient, high-frequency air cab service. In short, this is an ambitious goal, to say the least, to disrupt the urban transportation landscape. Their proposal is to replace long car trips (which often take between 60 and 90 minutes) with rapid flights in electric air cabs that will take only 10 to 20 minutes.
“It is really exciting to see an innovative idea come to life. Congratulations to the engineering and manufacturing teams at Stellantis and Archer for their dedication, expertise and innovative spirit,” said Carlos Tavares, CEO of Stellantis. “This additional investment in Archer reinforces our commitment to building a future where free mobility goes beyond the boundaries of today’s roads.”
“Stellantis’ commitment to Archer is solid and steadfast,” said Adam Goldstein, CEO of Archer. “From the foresight in providing expertise and capital to accelerate our goals, to the unwavering support and strategic vision of Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares, the collaboration between our companies is critical. Together, we are redefining urban transportation, opening up new opportunities for citizens around the world and providing more efficient access to people, places and events in their areas of residence.”
The partnership between Stellantis and Archer Aviation gives us a glimpse of what the future might look like, in which urban flight will be a widespread reality. With the continued development of eVTOL technology and the support of leading companies like Stellantis, urban air mobility is set to become more accessible and widespread in the coming years. We look forward to seeing their developments in the coming months and years and to seeing how innovation will be present in our urban lives.