The car industry, Stellantis, has entered the field of air vehicle production, announcing during the Las Vegas Electronics Show that it will produce an electric aircraft designed by the American company, Archer, to be used as an “air taxi”.
Stellantis, known for its brands Peugeot, Citroen and Jeep, will pay Archer about $150 million for its vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicle, which is designed to carry four passengers in addition to the pilot.
The vehicle, which was called “Midnight”, looks like a small plane equipped with a number of rotors on its wings and aims to carry out successive flights of about 30 kilometers each, provided that its batteries are charged for ten minutes between one flight and the next.
It is expected that Stellantis will start manufacturing the vehicle at the end of 2024 at the Archer plant in Covington, Georgia, in the eastern United States.
The founder and co-director of Archer said during a press conference that the American company is supposed to start manufacturing 650 vehicles annually, before expanding its production to 2,300 copies annually.
The company has already received an order for 200 “Midnight” vehicles from the American airline “United Airlines” in 2021.
It is expected that these “taxi planes” will initially carry out flights between New York and Newark Airport, and then to other cities such as Los Angeles, Miami and San Francisco. (AFP)