Archer Aviation, a leading electric flight company based in San Jose, California, is bringing its futuristic air taxis to Japan. The company will sell 100 of its Midnight battery-powered aircraft to Soracle, a joint venture between Japan Airlines and Sumitomo Corporation, in a deal valued approximately at $500 million.
Archer says that Soracle plans on deploying its aircraft — which look like a cross between a drone and a helicopter — “in cities where existing ground transportation is constrained by traffic or geographic barriers,” the company said. Still, Archer will need to achieve “certain milestones in advanced aircraft delivery” before Soracle approves pre-delivery payments.
The deal is the latest to buoy Archer’s prospects of launching commercial air taxi services in cities across the world, which is says it plans on doing in the years to come. Midnight is a four-seat aircraft plus one pilot, with a range of up to 100 miles (nearly 160km), though it’s designed for back-to-back flights of 20-50 miles with minimal charge time in between. It can travel at speeds of up to 150mph (241 km/h) on pure battery power. And using tilt rotors, Midnight is designed to take off and land vertically like a helicopter and then transition into forward flight like a plane.
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