In order to make Uber Air a reality, Uber needs vehicle partners to actually develop these electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles. Today at flying taxi conference Uber Elevate, Uber unveiled its newest partner, Jaunt Air Mobility.
“Jaunt Air Mobility has assembled a highly talented team of experienced engineers with a long history of designing and certifying eVTOL vehicles,” Uber Elevate Director of Engineering Mark Moore said in a statement. “Martin Peryea, Jaunt’s Chief Technology Officer, has led many helicopter development programs as a chief engineer and brings invaluable insights to developing low noise, reliable, and safe aircraft. I look forward to seeing what our teams accomplish together as we aim to accelerate Jaunt’s commercialization efforts.”
To date, Uber is working with more than five vehicle partners, including Boeing, Embraer and Bell. Uber plans to begin testing Uber Air next year and is sticking to its launch goal of 2023 in Dallas-Fort Worth/Frisco Texas and Los Angeles.
At the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this year, Bell unveiled its first flying taxi model called the Bell Nexus. Though, Bell said 2025 is probably the earliest we’ll see a Bell Nexus in the air.