Joby Aviation
An electric air-taxi company hatched on a ranch in the Santa Cruz mountains, which spent a decade in stealth, then bought Uber’s air-taxi arm and flew the first eVTOL hop from JFK to Manhattan.
Joby Aviation: the company and the aircraft that made its name
Ten years in stealth on a mountain ranch
Joby began on 11 September 2009 as Joby Aero, one of several projects JoeBen Bevirt incubated on his ranch in the Santa Cruz Mountains with money from selling earlier companies, including the GorillaPod camera-tripod maker. The early years went into electric motors, flight software and batteries, and Joby contributed to NASA’s LEAPTech and X-57 Maxwell projects. For a decade it operated in stealth, flying subscale prototypes by 2015 and full-scale unmanned ones by 2017; the first journalist allowed in, in 2018, agreed not to describe the aircraft.
Toyota, Uber and the S4
In January 2020 Joby went public with its design, a piloted four-passenger tilt-rotor with six electric rotors, alongside a $590 million round led by Toyota. That December it acquired Uber Elevate, Uber’s air-taxi division, and the US Air Force granted it the first military airworthiness approval for an eVTOL. A 2021 merger with the Reinvent Technology Partners SPAC put it on the New York Stock Exchange. It flew 155 miles on one charge in 2021, reached 205 mph in 2022, and lost a remotely piloted prototype to a component failure that February.
Hydrogen, Manhattan and certification
The first production aircraft rolled out on 28 June 2023 and the first went to Edwards Air Force Base that September. On 24 June 2024 a hydrogen-electric S4 demonstrator, powered by fuel cells from Joby’s German subsidiary H2Fly, flew 523 miles non-stop. In 2026 the first FAA-conforming aircraft began testing toward type certification, and on 27 April 2026 Joby flew from JFK to the West 30th Street Heliport in about 15 minutes, the first point-to-point eVTOL flight in New York City.
Joby Aviation in numbers
Společnost
- Stručně řečeno
- Founded 2009
- Founded by JoeBen Bevirt in the Santa Cruz Mountains
- Listed on the NYSE as JOBY after a 2021 SPAC merger
- Backers include Toyota, Uber and Delta Air Lines
Výroba
- Nejznámější pro
- Joby S4 eVTOL
- Piloted four-passenger electric tilt-rotor air taxi
- Factory at Marina, California; Ohio facilities in Dayton
- S4-T hybrid demonstrator with L3Harris, 2025
Dnes
- Teď
- Seeking FAA type certification
- 2,559 employees (2026)
- Revenue $53.43 million (2025)
Selected for five FAA eVTOL Integration Pilot Program projects in 2026.
Čísla
- Zaměstnanci
- 2,5592026
- Příjmy
- $53.43 million2025
- Hydrogen-electric non-stop flight
- 523 miles2024
- Fastest eVTOL flight claimed
- 205 mph true airspeed2022
- Funds raised by end of 2020
- $820 million
Every notable Joby Aviation aircraft
| Letadlo | Role | První let | Postavený | Postavení | Poznámka |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joby subscale eVTOL prototypes | Technology demonstrators | V důchodu | |||
| Joby S4 (pre-production) | eVTOL air taxi prototype | V důchodu | One remotely piloted prototype crashed 16 February 2022 | ||
| Joby S4 (production) | Four-passenger eVTOL air taxi | 2023 | Ve výrobě | First production aircraft rolled out 28 June 2023; first delivery to the USAF at Edwards | |
| Joby S4 hydrogen-electric demonstrator | Hydrogen fuel-cell demonstrator | 2024 | 1 | V důchodu | 523-mile non-stop flight, 24 June 2024 |
| Joby S4-T | Hybrid turbine-electric demonstrator | 2025 | V provozu | Developed with L3Harris for potential military use |
Where Joby Aviation built, who led it, what it achieved
Továrny
- Marina production facility · Marina Municipal Airport, California — Approved 2021; also the flight test base
- Dayton facility · Dayton, Ohio — Second facility of more than 700,000 sq ft agreed in January 2026
Lidé
- JoeBen Bevirt · founder and CEO
- Paul Sciarra · chairman — Pinterest co-founder and early investor
Rekordy a prvenství
- 523-mile non-stop flight by a hydrogen-electric eVTOL demonstrator, 24 June 2024
- First point-to-point eVTOL flight in New York City, JFK to West 30th Street, 27 April 2026
Joby Aviation, year by year
Joby Aero founded
$100 million Series B led by Toyota AI Ventures
$590 million round led by Toyota; production design revealed
Acquires Uber Elevate; USAF airworthiness approval
SPAC merger and NYSE listing as JOBY
Acquires hydrogen specialist H2Fly
First production aircraft rolled out
First aircraft delivered to Edwards Air Force Base
523-mile hydrogen-electric flight
Agrees to buy Blade’s passenger business for $125 million
JFK to Manhattan demonstration flight
Everything people ask about Joby Aviation
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