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Archer Aviation is partnering with drive - come and parking company Kakao Mobility to bring electrical aviation taxi flights to South Korea starting in 2026 , if the company can get its aircraft develop in clip .
The move to South Korea is part of an outside scheme that will also see Archer commercially launch in theUnited Arab EmiratesandIndiathat same yr . Competitor Joby Aviation is alsotargeting South Koreain partnership with SK Telecom and UT , a drive - hail joint venture between Uber and T Map Mobility that incorporate zephyr and Edwin Herbert Land travel .
Per the terms of Archer ’s latest hatful , Kakao Mobility plans to own and operate Archer ’s Midnight galvanising vertical travesty and landing ( eVTOL ) aircraft so it can offer air cab rides to the more than 30 million read user on its Kakao T Mobile River app , begin in Seoul .
Archer says theMidnight aircrafthas a 100 - mile stove and is design for urban environments where the average tripper is around 20 mile . The vehicle has an expected loading of more than 1,000 pounds and can carry four rider in increase to the archetype . However , the fomite is still in development and has not received an FAA certificate yet .
“ The visual modality is clear – reduce the hours lose in traffic and elevate everyday locomotion with an galvanising air hack service that have Archer ’s Midnight aircraft , ” suppose Christopher SungWook Chang , senior frailty president of Kakao Mobility , in a statement .
Kakao also signalize a like heap with British eVTOL startup Vertical Aerospace , which includes Kakao purchasing up to 50 VX4 eVTOLs for the South Korean market .
Kakao and Archer are also jointly participate in the K - UAM ( Korea Urban Air Mobility ) Grand Challenge , an initiative guide by the South Korean governance to develop and screen UAM commercial-grade technologies that can address issues like dealings over-crowding and air pollution . The culmination of that challenge will be a public demonstration of Archer ’s aircraft in South Korea in later 2024 .
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To aid Archer ’s other commercialization endeavor in Korea , Kakao is providing the company with $ 7 million this year , with a second instalment planned for the first twenty-five percent of 2025 .
In total , Kakao has agreed to buy up to 50 Midnight aircraft , worth or so $ 250 million , including pre - delivery payments . Archer did n’t furnish more detail about when it carry to fulfill all 50 orders , or even the first few . Thestartup turned SPAChas anagreement with automaker Stellantisto people - give rise its eVTOLs and allow the company access to up to $ 150 million in extra cap . That enunciate , Archer still has to incur all of the monetary value associated with that collaboration .
In the first one-quarter of 2024 , Archer pass $ 83.5 million in R&D expense . Since its inception , the company has incur around $ 807.4 million in losses , perregulatory filings . Those loss will only continue to mount as Archer aims to deliver vehicles and build air cab networks — which wo n’t be profitable for some time — over the next few year .
Archer has also share plan to launch air taxi service of process in Miami and San Francisco in 2025 in partnership with United Airlines and define - base operator Atlantic , but the company has not furnish TechCrunch with update on those planned launch .
Update : Kakao Mobility and Vertical Aerospace confirmed their on-going partnership . This article was originally published May 30 , 2024 at 3:00 a.m. PT .
