Stellantis abandons the bare ground for the azure. The automotive giant, a global group born in 2021 from the merger of PSA and Fiat (and of which Peugeot and Citroën are part), is broadening its spectrum. It plans to start manufacturing flying taxis in 2024. Stellantis will bring up to 150 million dollars (141 million euros) to the American company Archer and its vertical take-off and landing device (eVTOL), designed to carry four passengers in addition to the pilot.
The announcement was made on Wednesday January 4 at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, the annual high mass of tech in the United States.
“With an estimated payload of more than 450 kg, the Midnight is a safe, durable and quiet aircraft,” says Stellantis. With a range of 160 km, it is optimized for short consecutive trips of around 30 km, with a recharge time of around ten minutes between each trip. Archer plans to start production of the Midnight in Covington, Georgia (USA) in 2024. Venturing out of car manufacturing is “a matter of freedom of mobility”, explained Carlos Tavares, the boss of Stellantis.
Up to 650 devices per year
Beyond its expertise in terms of manufacturing and the 150 million dollars that will be injected, Stellantis also plans to increase its stake in the capital of Archer by buying back shares on the market. The American company should be able to build up to 650 devices per year initially, before a possible extension to produce up to 2,300 per year, said Adam Goldstein, co-founder and director of Archer.
“We have been working with Archer for two years, and I continue to be impressed by their inventiveness and their determination to succeed,” insisted Carlos Tavares. The constraints and pitfalls are nonetheless numerous before having flying taxis full of the atmosphere, as in the film “The Fifth Element” by Luc Besson.
It will be necessary (among other things) to build take-off and landing platforms in city centers, to design their integration into urban mobility networks via specific air corridors. Carlos Tavares is thinking in stages, for now. In France, Archer’s Midnight would be ideal for journeys between Roissy, Orly and Beauvais airports, he said.
There remains the question of the environmental footprint of these devices. Even with an electric battery, what will be their impact on biodiversity – their detractors point to threats to insect and bird populations – and noise pollution?