The Le Bourget air show is also the playground of car manufacturers. After Renault, which presented its Rafale on Sunday evening, Stellantis was present at the inauguration on Monday together with Archer Aviation, its partner for 4 years.
The car manufacturer has entered this Californian startup and invested funds (150 million dollars, according to L’Usine Nouvelle) for the development of eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing). These vertically taking off passenger planes, also called “flying taxis”, are set to revolutionize urban transportation. “It’s a business model that makes a lot of sense,” Carlos Tavares, CEO of Stellantis, told BFM Business.
A production of 1000 aircraft per year
A model that makes sense in the Stellantis mobility portfolio. “The raison d’être of our company is to offer our fellow citizens solutions in terms of freedom of movement, solutions that are clean, safe, affordable. Therefore, our participation in Archer Aviation is a way of promoting a mode of mobility that guarantees the freedom of movement”, continues Carlos Tavares.
Like other players such as ADP Aéroports de Paris, the bosses at Stellantis and Archer see it as an interesting alternative in cities with congested traffic. “For example, to go from Roissy airport to Orly, instead of suffering 3 hours of traffic jams, it is better to take a 10-minute flight in this object, emphasizes Carlos Tavares. Especially since the price will be a little more than half the price of the vehicle you would normally use to go to Orly.”
At Le Bourget, the two partners returned to the industrial phase of their project. Stellantis thus helps Archer in the construction of his first factory, located in Covington (Georgia).
“Our industrial team is in the process of starting up the plant and providing all the techniques, all the equipment and all the know-how necessary to master manufacturing which, for the aeronautical industry, is of great volume since we will reach around 1,000 planes per year”, explained to BFM Business Carlos Tavares, general manager of Stellantis.
technology exchanges
The start of production of the first Archer model, the Midnight, on display at Le Bourget, is announced for mid-2024. The small electric vehicle has a range of 160 kilometers. In early January, Archer explained that he had already registered an order from the US company United Airlines for 200 planes. The Californian startup is waiting for certifications in the United States. This is the first market where the Midnight could take off.
Beyond industrial knowledge, there are also technological exchanges between aero and auto in this project. “There are several areas in which they are absolutely evident and not always in the sense that one would have imagined: everything related to aerodynamics, navigation, propulsion and especially energy storage with batteries”, explains Carlos Tavares.
Source: BFM TV
