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Toyota Motor Corporation and Joby Aviation executives came together at Toyota’s Higashi-Fuji Technical Center in Shizuoka, Japan on Saturday 2 November. Present were Akio Toyoda, chairman Toyota Group, and Joby CEO and founder, JoeBen Bevirt, along with Joby’s air taxi, an electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOL*). After its first flights in Japan on previous day, the plan was to get senior executives on board, so to speak.
However, the weather kept them on the ground. Nonetheless, their aspirations still soared upward. “Since its founding, Toyota has been working to realize a society in which everyone can move freely. About 100 years ago, in 1925, Sakichi Toyoda, founder of the Toyota Group, offered a prize to encourage the development of a storage battery that could provide enough performance ‘to fly an airplane across the Pacific Ocean.’ Since then, Toyota has continued to focus on the challenge of air mobility through the generations,” Toyota said in a release likely prepared when the Sun was shining.
“As Toyota transforms into a mobility company, it has been able to work with other great companies like Joby to find new and exciting opportunities. Joby’s CEO, JoeBen Bevirt, is driven by his passion and dreams that look forward to a world where our environmental footprint is smaller, a world where we’re able to spend more time with the people and places that matter most to us, without having to worry about traffic jams,” said Akio Toyoda, chairman of the Toyota Group.
The event and display display took place days after Toyota Motor Corporation’s venture capital branch said it was investing another $500 million in Joby. This makes for a total Toyota capital commitment to the eVTOL startup of more than $894 million.
“This is a moment we have been looking forward to for a long time and marks a significant milestone on our journey towards making clean air travel an everyday reality,” said JoeBen Bevirt, Founder and CEO of Joby. “We share Toyota’s vision for the future of air travel and are honored to have had the opportunity to present a glimpse of that future through our exhibition flight in Japan.”
Toyota Motor Corporation founder Kiichiro Toyoda was also interest in the aircraft business, making prototypes of helicopters and aircraft components. After World War II, among other developments, Dr. Toyoda was involved in the joint development of the world’s first electronically-controlled aero piston engine with an American company at Toyota’s Higashi Fuji Technical Center, which could be described as the birthplace of Toyota’s development of air mobility. [This appears to be an early version of FADEC, but the company is un-named, and not confirmed by AutoInformed – AutoCrat]
“Air mobility has the potential to change our `sense of distance and time,’ and open a future with the new option of air mobility that will further enrich the lives of many people,” said Hiroki Nakajima, member of the board and executive vice president of Toyota Motor Corporation. “Toyota is committed to deepening our collaboration with Joby and we will continue to work together to realize our shared dreams.”
Joby aspires to start commercial passenger operations next year. Joby claims it’s working with Uber, Delta Air Lines and ANA, in Japan. Joby has applied to the JCAB, the Japanese regulator, for aircraft certification in Japan.
Well, Sakichi’s dream lives, with batteries seen as a viable source of power for an eVTOL.
AutoInformed on
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
Toyota Motor, Joby Aviation Meet at Toyota’s Technical Center
Click for more.
Toyota Motor Corporation and Joby Aviation executives came together at Toyota’s Higashi-Fuji Technical Center in Shizuoka, Japan on Saturday 2 November. Present were Akio Toyoda, chairman Toyota Group, and Joby CEO and founder, JoeBen Bevirt, along with Joby’s air taxi, an electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOL*). After its first flights in Japan on previous day, the plan was to get senior executives on board, so to speak.
However, the weather kept them on the ground. Nonetheless, their aspirations still soared upward. “Since its founding, Toyota has been working to realize a society in which everyone can move freely. About 100 years ago, in 1925, Sakichi Toyoda, founder of the Toyota Group, offered a prize to encourage the development of a storage battery that could provide enough performance ‘to fly an airplane across the Pacific Ocean.’ Since then, Toyota has continued to focus on the challenge of air mobility through the generations,” Toyota said in a release likely prepared when the Sun was shining.
“As Toyota transforms into a mobility company, it has been able to work with other great companies like Joby to find new and exciting opportunities. Joby’s CEO, JoeBen Bevirt, is driven by his passion and dreams that look forward to a world where our environmental footprint is smaller, a world where we’re able to spend more time with the people and places that matter most to us, without having to worry about traffic jams,” said Akio Toyoda, chairman of the Toyota Group.
The event and display display took place days after Toyota Motor Corporation’s venture capital branch said it was investing another $500 million in Joby. This makes for a total Toyota capital commitment to the eVTOL startup of more than $894 million.
“This is a moment we have been looking forward to for a long time and marks a significant milestone on our journey towards making clean air travel an everyday reality,” said JoeBen Bevirt, Founder and CEO of Joby. “We share Toyota’s vision for the future of air travel and are honored to have had the opportunity to present a glimpse of that future through our exhibition flight in Japan.”
Toyota Motor Corporation founder Kiichiro Toyoda was also interest in the aircraft business, making prototypes of helicopters and aircraft components. After World War II, among other developments, Dr. Toyoda was involved in the joint development of the world’s first electronically-controlled aero piston engine with an American company at Toyota’s Higashi Fuji Technical Center, which could be described as the birthplace of Toyota’s development of air mobility. [This appears to be an early version of FADEC, but the company is un-named, and not confirmed by AutoInformed – AutoCrat]
“Air mobility has the potential to change our `sense of distance and time,’ and open a future with the new option of air mobility that will further enrich the lives of many people,” said Hiroki Nakajima, member of the board and executive vice president of Toyota Motor Corporation. “Toyota is committed to deepening our collaboration with Joby and we will continue to work together to realize our shared dreams.”
Joby aspires to start commercial passenger operations next year. Joby claims it’s working with Uber, Delta Air Lines and ANA, in Japan. Joby has applied to the JCAB, the Japanese regulator, for aircraft certification in Japan.
Well, Sakichi’s dream lives, with batteries seen as a viable source of power for an eVTOL.
AutoInformed on
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn. He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe. Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap. AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks. Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.