What is Advanced Air Mobility?

Advanced air mobility is a fancy name for non-traditional air travel characterized by electric propulsion systems with either conventional or vertical take-off and landing capabilities.  Some concepts are autonomous (which means there is no pilot on board).  This new category of aircraft tends to be small and short-range due to performance limitations of current battery technology, and the first commercial applications will likely be for last-mile package delivery (think about a small autonomous aircraft instead of the ubiquitous Amazon trucks), air taxi service, or Part 91 air travel (private aircraft use by an operator that isn't an airline or charter operator).  There are efforts underway to employ electric propulsion for larger passenger aircraft as well, but given the aforementioned performance limitations, not to mention the regulatory hurdles, this application is still far in the future.

Automotive OEM Participation

The technical and regulatory challenges have not stopped Toyota and Stellantis from jumping into the fray and supporting two US-based advanced air mobility manufacturers (Joby and Archer) with hundreds of millions of dollars of investment and manufacturing support.  It's logical that automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) can leverage their experience and expertise in manufacturing electric and hybrid drive trains for these new aviation applications - and find new sources of revenue and enhanced profitability. 

Advanced Air Mobility Applications

Joby and Archer both manufacture electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft that look very similar to drones you can buy at your local hobby store, but on a much larger scale.  The Joby aircraft sports six electric motors mated to traditional-looking propellers that are vertical for take-off and landing and then transition to a horizontal position for high-speed (200 mph) flight in a manner akin to the V-22 Osprey that is in service with the Marine Corps. The company estimates a trip from midtown Manhattan to JFK Airport will take seven minutes!  That is the kind of mission that initial participants in the sector are targeting, and the potential consumer appeal is obvious, but questions remain about the viability of the business model.

Viability Challenges

These aircraft aren't anticipated to be cheap, and retail prices are estimated to be in the $5 to $10 million range.  Getting a business to scale - running what essentially amounts to an air taxi service - will require substantial up-front capital and fare pricing sufficient to generate a return on investment.  Operationally, this business model will require a heliport with significant infrastructure to keep these aircraft charged and in optimal flying condition.  Power requirements will be enormous.  Finally, the regulatory challenges that pioneers in this sector will need to address cannot be overstated.  This is cutting-edge technology, being applied to an industry where the safety standards are exceptionally high, so predicting a timeline for commercialization is a risky endeavor.

Commercialization of these technologies will not be inexpensive, easy, or without major technical challenges, but it may well represent the future of aviation.