Investing in the Future of Aviation
Flying above the freeways safely, efficiently and almost silently: This is what the future of urban transportation looks like.
That's why we're so excited about Intel Capital's new investment in Joby Aviation, a Santa Cruz, Calif.-based developer of electric vertical-take-off-and-landing (eVTOL) aircraft.
Metropolitan areas have been growing and sprawling for decades, and one of the byproducts is congestion – which means longer commutes, loss of productivity and unhealthy air. Public transportation projects that could remedy the situation are too often stuck in limbo because of exorbitant capital costs and other hurdles.
"Air taxis" powered by electric aircraft are a much-needed solution. They may have seemed like science fiction just a decade ago, but they'll soon be alleviating traffic and returning valuable time to commuters.
Ride-sharing, electric propulsion, higher performance batteries and autonomous systems have radically shaken up surface transportation over the past few years. We see these same innovations driving change in the aviation sector, especially for short and mid-range commutes.
A number of startups are working on different air taxi concepts, with many in stealth mode or early stage. One of our portfolio companies, Volocopter, has been testing its autonomous passenger drone since 2013 and recently brought it to CES, where it made its maiden US flight. (Intel CEO Brian Krzanich also became the first passenger ever to ride in a Volocopter.) In addition, several big aviation manufacturers, such as Airbus and Bell, are also developing air taxi technology.
eVTOLs like those developed by Joby and Volocopter are designed to operate quietly because they're powered by electric propulsion. This makes them the ideal fit for urban areas, where noise considerations limit the use of helicopters. Joby's new vehicle, in fact, will be 100 times quieter than conventional aircraft during takeoff and landing – and nearly silent in flight.
Distributed electric propulsion systems also are simpler to maintain than standard engines. And they're safer, because they use electrical linkages instead of failure-prone mechanical linkages.
Joby's eVTOL vehicle is a 5-seater that will be significantly faster than traditional rotorcraft and fly 150 miles on a charge. It's the culmination of years of iterative design and testing, and it's optimal for serving both inter-city and intra-city transportation needs.
Commuting won't be a nightmare. It will be fast, inexpensive and environmentally friendly.
Urban aviation is an important focus for Intel. It's an opportunity for us to be a key enabler and problem-solver, leveraging our unique ability to capture and rapidly process massive quantities of data. We're already helping usher in a new era for transportation by investing in autonomous vehicles, advanced aviation software, Internet-of-Things developers and unmanned aircraft.
It's an honor to partner with the Joby team and with CEO JoeBen Bevirt on their journey to build a revolutionary transportation company.
