Fiat Chrysler, startup look to electric aircraft
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, known for its love of heavy-duty horsepower in its Hemis and Hellcats, is partnering with a Silicon Valley air taxi startup with plans to produce electric aircraft in 2023.
FCA, whose brands include Jeep, Ram, Dodge, Chrysler, Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Maserati, has already collaborated with Archer, based in Palo Alto, Calif., on cockpit design, which the companies expect to unveil later this year, according to a recent news release. The deal will allow Archer “to benefit from access to FCA’S low-cost supply chain, advanced composite materials capabilities, and engineering and design experience.”
Archer is to build high-volume composite electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, known as EVTOL, the release said.
“While we are not sharing specific details around our production plans and location at this time, our goal is to start volume manufacturing in 2023 and conduct the first consumer flights in 2024,” according to Louise Bristow, a spokesperson for Archer.
Financial terms of the deal were not provided, with Bristow noting that Archer is privately owned.
FCA is leaping into an area where numerous companies, such as Uber and General Motors, have seen potential. In a 2019 research paper, Morgan Stanley referenced “a total addressable market of $1.5 trillion for autonomous aircraft by 2040.”
Many of the proposals for this type of air travel have focused on the use of autonomous flying technology.
For the time being, Archer’s aircraft will not be autonomous, although autonomous options are being explored, Bristow said. Instead, the aircraft will carry a pilot and four passengers.
Bristow said the focus would be on passenger transport, as opposed to hauling cargo or making deliveries.
Archer’s aircraft will be able to travel 60 miles at up to 150 mph, according to the news release. Archer’s website said that range is possible using current commercially available battery technology.
The aircraft will “take off vertically like a helicopter, fly forward like an airplane and will be 100 percent electric. There is no runway required, and the vehicles can land vertically on a traditional helicopter landing pad or retrofitted landing site,” the website said.
Questions remain, of course, about how quickly technology often identified with science fiction is truly likely to be in wide use. Regulations and control infrastructure are some of the areas of uncertainty.
Archer co-founders Brett Adcock and Adam Goldstein said in a posting that they intend to keep costs to fly affordable.
“Our goal is to make our service affordable for the masses. This means driving operating costs down to the price of ride-sharing and over time to the cost of car ownership,” they said.
They also said they intend to make the aircraft as safe as commercial airliners and keep the “flyover noise at or below equivalent sound levels of residential neighborhoods.”
In the news release, Goldstein touted the potential for mass electric air travel to transform transportation.
“This is a first-of-its-kind deal for one of Detroit’s Big Three automakers in moving into the urban air mobility space. There is now a clear path for Archer to bring mass production to this industry, changing the way people travel in and around cities forever,” Goldstein said.