Archer Aviation gets another big order for its futuristic air taxis

Archer Aviation, a leading electric flight company based in San Jose, California, is bringing its futuristic air taxis to Japan. The company will sell 100 of its Midnight battery-powered aircraft to Soracle, a joint venture between Japan Airlines and Sumitomo Corporation, in a deal valued approximately at $500 million.

Archer says that Soracle plans on deploying its aircraft — which look like a cross between a drone and a helicopter — “in cities where existing ground transportation is constrained by traffic or geographic barriers,” the company said. Still, Archer will need to achieve “certain milestones in advanced aircraft delivery” before Soracle approves pre-delivery payments.

The deal is the latest to buoy Archer’s prospects of launching commercial air taxi services in cities across the world, which is says it plans on doing in the years to come. Midnight is a four-seat aircraft plus one pilot, with a range of up to 100 miles (nearly 160km), though it’s designed for back-to-back flights of 20-50 miles with minimal charge time in between. It can travel at speeds of up to 150mph (241 km/h) on pure battery power. And using tilt rotors, Midnight is designed to take off and land vertically like a helicopter and then transition into forward flight like a plane. 

Archer says it will work with Soracle and the Japanese Civil Aviation Bureau to obtain the necessary permissions and certifications. Archer says it has already begun discussions and “intends to formally apply for concurrent type certificate validation from JCAB in the near future.” The company recently received a Part 135 air carrier certification from the US Federal Aviation Administration, which the company will need to operate an on-demand air taxi service. It is currently seeking a type certification for its Midnight air taxi, which means the aircraft meets all the FAA’s design and safety standards.

Alongside Archer, other electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) companies hope to eventually win full FAA approval. That got a boost just a few weeks ago, when the agency published highly anticipated final regulations for eVTOL vehicles that it says will chart the path for the “air travel of the future.” Archer praised the FAA for “providing clear direction on what is required for the safe operation of eVTOL aircraft in the U.S.”

Air taxis, sometimes misidentified by the mainstream media as “flying cars,” are essentially helicopters without the noisy, polluting gas motors (though they certainly have their own unique noise profile). In addition to Archer, companies like Joby Aviation, Volocopter, and Beta Technologies have claimed they are on the cusp of launching services that will eventually scale up nationwide. But others have floundered; German company Lilium recently said that two of its subsidiaries were insolvent and could cease operations.