Dayton, Ohio, on Monday was announced as the site of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft manufacturer Joby Aviation’s first full-scale manufacturing plant. Joby passed over potential locations in Michigan, North Carolina, and Marina, California, which had hoped to lure back the company for more after it opened its pilot production line there a few years prior. Joby has had a presence in Marina since 2018.
While the Marina facility can produce tens of aircraft per year, Joby’s new manufacturing plant is expected to be capable of delivering up to 500 air taxi units annually. The 140-acre site at Dayton International Airport (KDAY) has enough space for the company to one day build two million square feet of manufacturing assets. Construction on the plant is scheduled to start next year, with full-scale operations beginning in 2025. In the meantime, Joby plans to use existing nearby buildings to begin initial activities.
“We’re building the future of aviation right where it all started, in Dayton, Ohio,” said JoeBen Bevirt, founder and CEO of Joby. “The Wright brothers harnessed revolutionary technology of their time to open up the skies, and we intend to do the same—this time, bringing quiet and emissions-free flight that we hope will have an equally profound impact on our world.”
Joby will invest $500 million in developing the site, which is estimated to create up to 2,000 jobs. The company plans to begin hiring for the Ohio facility in the coming months. Early roles are expected to focus on the build-out of the site and the machining of parts that will first appear on the Marina production line.
In addition to Joby’s half-billion-dollar investment, as much as $325 million in state and local incentives are available to support the project, including from the state of Ohio, JobsOhio and local political subdivisions. Adding to those incentives, Joby said the U.S. Department of Energy invited it to submit a Part II application under the Title XVII loan guarantee program, which would support the construction of the facility as a clean energy project.
Joby is registered as a company in Ohio that operates electric aircraft technology simulators in the Dayton-Springfield area. The company clarified that its Santa Cruz headquarters (which debuted in June), research and development facilities, and pilot production line will all remain in California. Reportedly, it’s also still planning an expansion of the Marina facility.
This article originally appeared on FLYING.com. For more great content like this, check out FLYING!
Apparently Joby’s investors are willing to lose $0.5 B on eVTOLs in the *Birthplace of Aviation*. Whattd’ya think, will this fly?
Contrary to the common opinion here, I don’t think the big problem will be the aircraft or even the battery tech. The market may not be as good as they hope, but the real threat is government. The FAA will drag its feet long enough to destroy the first entrants (apparently with support of some of us antique pilots who favor antique planes). They will be lucky to come out of bankruptcy for a second try. That’s the first issue.
Second, it looks like the rust belt is going to get revived. Hundreds of billions will be poured into facilities of all sorts. I don’t know what’s changed with these states, but if the government hacks are just going to help unions hold all these companies hostage while demanding high pay and anti productive policies again, I hope I’m not around to see it happen. It could really set the country back in a major way.