Joby Aviation has acquired Uber’s flying taxi division, Elevate, a day after ditching its’ goal to develop a self-driving car and selling the autonomous vehicle division, Advanced Technologies Group, to Aurora Innovations at $4 billion. In a move to turn profits in 2021, Uber has left other side projects and aims at focusing on hailing rides and delivering food. Uber promises its investors profitable Ebitda after reporting an adjusted $625 million Ebitda loss in the last three months of 2020.
Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber’s chief executive, said: “Advanced air mobility has the potential to be exponentially positive for the environment and future generations. This deal allows us to deepen our partnership with Joby, the clear leader in this field, to accelerate the path to market for these technologies.”
Uber began experimenting with flying taxis in 2016, and Elevate had promised to launch the services in Los Angeles, Dallas and Melbourne in 2023.
Joby, which was valued at $2.6bn earlier this year, said its “zero emissions” aircraft would be able to carry four passengers and a pilot. The company said the aircraft, which is undergoing tests, would have a range of up to 241km (150 miles) and a top speed of 321km/h.
From The Guardian
Elevate’s sale has been termed as an expanded partnership that will see Uber investing an additional $75 million. The initial prospects of the Elevate project since experiments began in 2016 were that it would be launched in 2023 in LA, Dallas, and Melbourne. Joby says the aircraft will carry four passengers and a pilot, and it would have a range of up to 241km with a top speed of 321km/h.
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