Joby completes pre-production flight testing, focus moves to for-credit tests

Joby Aviation has completed its pre-production flight test programme and is now moving on to the next phase of flight tests.

The Californian OEM will now use its production prototype aircraft to prepare for upcoming for-credit flight testing which will feed directly into the OEM’s type certification of its aircraft.

“Over the course of this test programme, our team has shown the world how real electric air taxis  are, with tens of thousands of miles flown using today’s battery technology,” said JoeBen Bevirt, founder and CEO of Joby. “Our pre-production aircraft were the second full-scale generation of Joby’s design, and their performance met or exceeded our predictions throughout the program, successfully achieving our targets for maximum range, speed, and a revolutionary acoustic footprint.”

Joby’s two pre-production aircraft have completed more than 1,500 flights, spanning a total distance of over 33,000 miles, including more than 100 flights with a pilot onboard. The second pre-production aircraft also completed the first electric air taxi exhibition flights in New York City, when it flew from the Manhattan Downtown Heliport over the Hudson River in November 2023.

James Denham, Joby Chief Test Pilot, and the first person to fly onboard Joby’s full-scale prototype aircraft, said: “Over the past four years, we thoroughly tested and studied our aircraft in flight, from precision landing and outwash to human factors. We often flew multiple flights per day, demonstrating our ability to fly in a wide variety of weather and operational conditions. As a result, we have the most experienced and professional eVTOL flight test team in the world, and I’m proud to be a part of this programme.”

Bevirt added: “Successfully completing this rigorous test programme has allowed us to proceed to ramp production with full confidence, the second of which rolled off the line at our production line in Marina, California, earlier this week. Learnings from the flight test programme have been invaluable to our certification program and to the broader development of regulatory frameworks around electric VTOL aircraft, validating the performance, safety, and acoustics of our design while providing insight into daily operations and maintenance.”