Joby Aviation is betting on hydrogen-electric aircraft for regional flight
Reading Time: 3 minutesJoby Aviation is still a year away from commercially launching its electric air taxi designed for urban environments, but the startup is already looking towards its next chapter: Intercity flight, powered by hydrogen.
Today, Joby Aviation’s eVTOLs are being built to transport people and goods short distances within cities or from cities to airports. Powered by batteries, the aircraft have 100 miles of range. Hydrogen acts as a range-extender, opening the door to a regional use case, according to Joby.
The use of hydrogen to power vehicles has been hotly contested for years. Hydrogen is technically a zero emissions fuel source because it only emits water when in use. But it’s expensive and energy intensive to produce, and most of today’s stock is made using fossil fuels. Green hydrogen, which is produced via renewable energy sources, has yet to scale significantly.
However, recent private and public investment into green hydrogen, including an $8 billion hydrogen hub program within Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, is giving the sector new life. And Bevirt says ‘aviation has the potential to be a massive consumer of green hydrogen.’
‘The amazing thing about hydrogen is it’s three times lighter than jet fuel per unit of energy. It’s 100 times lighter than today’s batteries per unit of energy,’ Bevirt said. ‘And with hydrogen fuel cells…we’re able to convert the chemical energy in hydrogen into propulsion twice as efficiently.’
Joby is still very much in the demonstration phase, but when the startup is ready to start testing regional flight, it’ll be able to integrate hydrogen-powered eVTOLs into its current system with minimal financial outlay, according to Bevirt.
‘We take this battery electric aircraft we’ve built, and we take 90% of the systems and components that are in it, and we augment it with a hydrogen-electric range extender,’ said Bevirt. ‘And now, with a very small incremental investment, we can use the same vertiports, the same pilots and mechanics and the Elevate operating system, which does all the back end logic.’
ElevateOS, which is core to Joby’s planned air taxi service, is a nod to Uber’s Elevate air taxi business, which the ride-hail giant sold to Joby in 2020. That sale included a set of software tools that enable on-demand mobility not unlike hailing an Uber ride. And in fact, Joby’s app will be integrated with Uber and Delta Airlines, the startup’s launch partner.
‘So whether you pick up the Joby app or the Uber app, all of a sudden, it gives you the opportunity to not just go across town, but you can go anywhere in a region,’ said Bevirt.
Some investors aren’t so convinced.
Cyrus Sigari, co-founder and managing partner of VC Up Partners, said that while he’d love to see a hydrogen-powered eVTOL come to life, investors ‘would need to see a very compelling technical and business case to pursue investment in the category.’
One of the biggest challenges, he said, lies with the infrastructure.
He noted the recent shutdown of Universal Hydrogen, one of the more prominent players in the hydrogen space for powering traditional airlines, has brought to light just how hard all of this is.
When asked about the hydrogen filling stations, Bevirt wasn’t fazed.
And even as Universal Hydrogen had to shutter because it was unable to raise enough funds to continue, ZeroAvia signed a large deal with American Airlines, which committed to the purchase of 100 hydrogen-powered engines.
Joby didn’t provide a timeline for when it plans to launch hydrogen-powered eVTOLs, but the goal with its demonstration flight is to open the floor to discussion with green hydrogen producers and regulators.
‘This is an important moment where we can begin the dialogue with regulators, both here in the U.S. and around the world, to say the technology is here, the technology is ready, and it’s time to put the pieces in place to certify this,’ said Bevirt.
Ref: techcrunch
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