Dive Brief:
- Construction is “well underway” on Stellantis and Archer Aviation’s high-volume electric air taxi manufacturing facility in Covington, Georgia, the companies said in an update late last month.
- The automaker is providing expertise to the aviation manufacturer on production automation and component sourcing as the companies prepare to launch operations in mid-2024.
- As part of a partnership announced in January, Stellantis personnel are now embedded across almost all of Archer Aviation’s operations, including manufacturing, engineering, supply chain, quality and facilities.
Dive Insight:
Archer broke ground on the Covington facility in March after partnering with Stellantis to leverage the automaker’s manufacturing capabilities. The site is expected to produce 650 aircraft per year, with room for expansion to make up to 2,300 units annually.
Stellantis is helping enable Archer to quickly scale production of its flagship air taxi, the Midnight, to meet its production targets, contributing advanced manufacturing tech, expertise and personnel and up to $150 million in capital towards the Covington facility.
The partnership comes as aircraft manufacturers work to ramp operational capacity. Aircraft manufacturers currently lack the capabilities to build air taxis at the scale needed for mass adoption, including the necessary supply chains and distribution networks.
“Our goal is not just to get to commercialization, but to achieve it at scale,” Archer Aviation founder and CEO Adam Goldstein said in a statement. “High-volume manufacturing is critical to ensuring we can meet this goal ... I couldn’t be prouder of what we’ve already accomplished with this partnership as we continue to lead the industry in building out manufacturing capabilities.”
Other air taxi manufacturers are also investing in production. Germany-based electric air taxi company Volocopter opened its production facility in Bruchsal, Germany, in April, with capacity to build more than 50 air taxis per year.
