Carmakers pour millions into "flying taxis"

Never in business history has there been a more abrupt heel turn than the one we saw from Sam Bankman-Fried — or SBF, as he's universally known — over the past week, Axios' Felix Salmon writes.

The big picture: It now looks likely that SBF — once arguably the most trusted man in crypto — will turn out to have been a crook who was embezzling customers' funds.

• If that's the case, lawmakers will have every reason to ignore the crypto industry's pleas for special regulatory treatment.
• It might be many years, if ever, before crypto entrepreneurs have any hope they'll be treated as responsible and law-abiding.

The bottom line: SBF's stated dream — and that of most other crypto entrepreneurs — was for the industry to improve upon and supplant the world's existing financial infrastructure. That dream is now dead.

Nobody's putting wings on automobiles, but carmakers have emerged as key partners for a bevy of aviation startups working on electric "air taxis," Joann Muller reports.

Why it matters: It's a critical time for the emerging urban air mobility sector.

• Several leading developers of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft are aiming to get Federal Aviation Administration certification within the next couple of years.
• But they need capital and manufacturing expertise to bring their aircraft, which look like oversized drones, to market and begin whisking passengers across cities or to the airport.
• Automakers can help on both counts, while ensuring they remain on the cutting edge of transportation.

Driving the news: Stellantis, which makes Jeep and Chrysler vehicles, said yesterday it will manufacture an electric air taxi with Archer Aviation — one of several eVTOL companies nearing commercialization.

• It also plans to invest $150 million in Archer, following an initial $75 million investment in 2021.
• Stellantis, which has been providing Archer with engineering expertise, will now help it launch a new manufacturing facility in Covington, Georgia, starting in 2024.
• The plan is for Stellantis to become the exclusive manufacturer of Archer's newly revealed eVTOL, called Midnight.

Details: Midnight, which can carry four passengers plus a pilot, is designed for back-to-back hops of around 20 miles, with approximately 10 minutes of charging between flights.

• Its first route, starting in 2025, will link a Manhattan heliport to Newark Liberty International Airport, in partnership with United Airlines — also an Archer investor.

Archer's "Midnight" eVTOL aircraft. Photo courtesy of Archer Aviation

Between the lines: To make air taxis affordable, eVTOL developers need to produce them in large numbers and keep them flying as much as possible.

• Most plan to scale from making hundreds of aircraft annually to tens of thousands — far more than traditional airplane manufacturers.