Las Vegas — If Jeep SUV and Ram pickup truck owners think their vehicles are fly, wait until they see the latest vehicle the automaker has announced it’ll build.
Expanding its partnership with California-based startup Archer Aviation Inc., Stellantis NV said on Wednesday it’ll manufacture Archer’s Midnight, an electric vertical take off and landing, or eVTOL, aircraft designed to launch for the creation of an urban air taxi and mobility network that customers could grab at the cost of ride-hailing. The automaker will help to start up the manufacturing plant Archer has announced outside Atlanta in Covington, Georgia — marking yet another instance of next-generation technology slated for production by one of the Detroit Three automakers in the South.
Production is planned to launch in late 2024 when Archer expects to certify the aircraft with the Federal Aviation Administration.
The goal is for Stellantis to be the exclusive contract manufacturer of Midnight. The agreement is a collaboration seeking to leverage both partners’ strengths. Archer brings its expertise in the development of eVTOLs, electric powertrains and certifications, while Stellantis offers its long history of knowledge and capability in mass manufacturing in a highly regulated sector.
Stellantis also has opened its pocketbook for the project, committing to provide up to $150 million in equity capital for potential draw by Archer at its discretion in 2023 and 2024 so long as it achieves certain milestones that Archer expects to occur this year.
The agreement could position Archer to be the first eVTOL to market in a once-in-generation opportunity to reshape urban transportation, Archer CEO Adam Goldstein said during a virtual roundtable.
Unveiled in November, the Midnight is an aircraft that can carry a pilot and up to four passengers. It looks like a plane, but launches and lands more like a helicopter since it doesn’t require a runway. The Midnight has a range of 100 miles, according to Archer, and was designed for back-to-back short distance trips of around 20 miles with a charging time of 10 minutes in-between. It is capable of carrying more than 1,000 pounds and can travel at speeds up to 150 mph.
The goal is to make road trips that now take 1 to 2 hours over 20 to 50 miles because of congestion more efficient. Archer hopes to create an urban air mobility network to launch in 2026. It has announced with United Airlines Inc. that its first commercial air taxi route will be between New Jersey’s Newark Liberty International Airport and the Downtown Manhattan Heliport above Battery Park on Pier 6. United in August also gave Archer a $10 million pre-delivery payment for 100 of the production eVTOLs.
“If you think about your typical trip to an airport, you always budget the worst case scenario, because you don’t want to miss it,” Goldstein said. “And so those are very low hanging fruit type of trips where we can save people considerable amounts of time and deliver a very fantastic experience and potentially, you’d be able to arrive behind security.”
Since 2020, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, which became Stellantis following its 2021 merger with French automaker Groupe PSA, has offered its expertise in manufacturing, supply chain and design to Archer as a strategic partner. It became an investor last year through its $328 million Stellantis Ventures arm.
Stellantis intends to increase its shareholding in Archer through future purchases of publicly traded Archer stock on the New York Stock Exchange. It will maintain a minority position to reduce risks for the startup, but Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares says he has confidence in the innovative leadership of Archer.
The purpose of Stellantis, Tavares said, is to offer the freedom of mobility. Archer represents a new avenue toward that goal.
“I really think sincerely that the field of affordability is at risk in the Western world, that there are more and more constraints, more and more things that prevent you from going from A to B at your leisure when you wish to do so at the cost competitive level with the right safety,” he said. “I believe that possible democracies cannot survive if they don’t protect the freedom of mobility of their citizens. … Anything that relates to giving breathing space to the citizens, giving them the sense that they are free to move in a safe, cost competitive way from A to B at their leisure when they decide to do it is the reason why we exist.”
Tavares also has pointed to the Archer partnership as an example of the company’s offensive moves in all-electric automobile development around lightweight, fast-charging batteries and better energy management systems. Such technologies could help to increase range and address consumer concerns with EVs.
Although eVTOLs once were thought of as vehicles of the future, it’s actually the first production all-electric vehicle that Stellantis will build in North America to be unveiled. The first traditional EV Stellantis will launch here will be the all-electric ProMaster commercial late this year in Saltillo, Mexico. An array of fully electric vehicles will come in 2024, from the Ram 1500 pickup truck, whose concept is set to debut Thursday at the CES consumer electronics trade show in Las Vegas, to the two-door Dodge Charger muscle car to the Wrangler-inspired Jeep Recon SUV and the smaller Wagoneer — codenamed “S” until a name is chosen from enthusiast submissions.
The 96-acre site in Georgia is adjacent to the Covington Municipal Airport, a requirement for eVTOL manufacturing to conduct test flights, Goldstein said. Archer’s initial plans are to build a 350,000-square-foot plant able to produce up to 650 aircraft per year, though it could be expanded by an additional 550,000 square feet to support the production of up to 2,300 aircraft annually. The expected $118 million investment over the next 10 years is expected to create more than 1,000 jobs.
Archer will be the one to determine a response to any labor organizing efforts at the plant, Tavares said, though Goldstein didn’t offer any additional comments on the prospect.
From his perspective in the auto industry, “unions and the management are on the same side of the line, looking at the best way to face external risks,” Tavares said. “For everything I can see, having stronger unions with good leaders that have good sense, a pragmatic approach of the problems, trying to help us figure out what are the best ways to respond to those challenges has always been, not only a blessing for our people, for our companies, but also the right way to go.”
Although the automaker brings its expertise, it will learn along the way, Tavares said. It, however, wouldn’t be the first time an automaker has made flying vehicles. Ford Motor Co.’s Willow Run Assembly Plant in Ypsilanti made B-24s bombers by the hour during World War II. Stellantis forerunner Chrysler Corp. built everything from air-raid sirens to Wright Cyclone engines.
The agreement isn’t Stellantis’ first contract manufacturing job. It also makes commercial vans alongside its own for Toyota Motor Corp. in Europe. But the automaker isn’t looking to fill the soon-to-be idled Jeep Cherokee plant in Belvidere, Illinois, with contract jobs either.
“We are not sitting there with an empty plant looking for a customer that would enjoy the available capacity and then being in a position where we need to discount the cost of that manufacturing to be able to fix the fixed cost issue that we have in our hands,” Tavares said. “That’s something we consider is not the right use of our resources.”
Georgia is supporting the projects with an incentive packaging representing 33% of the capital investment commitment, including land conveyance, tax incentives and a grant. The state also has attracted investments from EV makers like Rivian Automotive Inc. and Hyundai Motor Co. and battery manufacturers.
Archer in November chose E-One Moli Energy Corp., a Taiwanese manufacturer that does business as Molicel, as the supplier of aircraft’s lithium-ion batteries. Molicel has planned its fist battery plant with 1.8 gigawatt-hours of annual capacity to launch this year in its homeland.
The Georgia plant is Archer’s second manufacturing facility. It’s launching production at a small plant in San Jose, California, in the first half of this year capable of producing “tens” of the aircraft for certification testing.
bnoble@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @BreanaCNoble