Joby Aviation will employ composite materials supplied by Toray Advanced Composites to build its family of eVTOL aircraft. The two companies announced a long-term supply agreement on December 8 covering unspecified quantities of carbon fiber to be used in the fuselages of Joby’s initial four-seat model.
Japan-based Toray has already started supplying prepreg carbon fiber for an unspecified number of aircraft. These are being delivered to Joby Aviation’s headquarters in California from Toray's U.S. production facilities, with the supplier having committed to delivery rate increases as required by the program.
Joby’s all-electric S-4 model is expected to deliver a range of 150 mph and a top speed of 200 mph. The company aims to have an aircraft certified and ready to begin small-scale commercial operations as part of Uber Elevate’s planned ride-hailing service by 2023.
In July, Toray announced a similar deal with German eVTOL aircraft developer Lilium. The company has already started receiving carbon fiber to use for the construction of further technology demonstrators of its five-seat, all-electric Lilium Jet. It is also sending materials to some of Lilium’s manufacturing suppliers.
The partnership also involves the engineering teams at Lilium and Toray working together on research and development focused on other high-performance, lightweight materials. Toray has extensive experience in developing carbon-fiber for aerospace applications, such as Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner.
Toray said that it is also supplying carbon fiber to multiple other eVTOL aircraft developers.
