By embarking on the manufacture of aerial vehicles, Stellar chose to step out of their comfort zone. The automaker announced on Wednesday, on the occasion of the big electronics show CES in Las Vegasthat it was going to produce the electric aircraft developed by the American company Archer and destined to become flying taxis.
Known for its Peugeot, Citroën and Jeep car brands, the group will bring up to 150 million dollars to Archer and its vertical take-off and landing device (eVTOL), designed to carry four passengers in addition to the pilot. Called Midnight, it looks like a small plane with several rotors on the wings and is intended to make consecutive journeys of around 30 km with a recharge time of around 10 minutes between each journey.
A partnership already in 2021
The two groups had already entered into a partnership in 2021 but on a more limited scale, Stellantis then having to provide technical assistance and access to its supply chain. This time around, Stellantis is scheduled to mass-produce the aircraft, as the exclusive contract manufacturer, at Archer’s plant in Covington, Georgia, in the United States. UNITED STATES. Venturing out of car manufacturing is “a matter of freedom of mobility,” said Stellantis boss Carlos Tavares.
In addition to its expertise in terms of mass manufacturing and the 150 million dollars which will be disbursed in 2023 and 2024 subject to the achievement of certain objectives, Stellantis also plans to increase its stake in the capital of Archer by buying back shares on the market.
The partnership allows Archer to accelerate the production of the device, which should begin at the end of 2024. The American company should be able to build up to 650 devices per year at first before a possible extension to produce them up to 2,300 per year, said Adam Goldstein, co-founder and director of Archer.
The strong interest of United Airlines
The partnership should also allow the American company to save “several hundred million dollars” during the ramp-up of production thanks to the expertise of Stellantis. “We have already made a lot of progress on the design of the device and on the certification process”, underlined Adam Goldstein.
The company has already received a pre-order for 200 vehicles from United Airlines in 2021, which confirmed its interest in August 2022 by providing a $10 million deposit for 100 aircraft. These aircraft are expected to fly between New York and Newark airport initially, then to other cities such as Los Angeles, Miami and San Francisco. In France, Archer’s device would be ideal for trips between Roissy, Orly and Beauvais airports, said Carlos Tavares.
