CAR MAKER STELLANTIS WILL MASS PRODUCE ARCHER'S MIDNIGH EVTOL AIR TAXI

Under a new arrangement announced early in January, car maker Stellantis is to produce Archer Aviation's four-passenger eVTOL aircraft. Stellantis has also agreed to provide Archer with a further $150 million in equity capital in 2023 and 2024 in a move that significantly deepens a relationship with the Californiabased start-up that began in 2020.

The plans announced on 4 January call for Stellantis to produce the Midnight aircraftat the new manufacturing facility in Covington, Georgia, which is scheduled to open in 2025. The Europe-based automotive group was formed in 2021 from the merger between carmakers Fiat, Chrysler and Peugeot. Archer has said that it plans to initially produce about 650 Midnight aircraft per year. As the new facility expands, Archer says it will eventually be able to deliver as many as 2,300 Midnight aircraft per year. By way of comparison, Airbus and Boeing, the world’s leading airliner manufacturers, each produced around 800 aircraft during the recent peak production year of 2018.

Stellantis, which manufacturers multiple car brands including Citroen, Dodge, Jeep, Maserati and Vauxhall, could provide the sort of high-volume production capability needed to achieve the significant uptick in output that eVTOL aircraft pioneers say is required to achieve their ambitious goals for transforming the aviation’s cost structure. However, the group has yet to specify how it will implement these techniques in an aircraft production line.