Sustainability technology group Acciona is preparing to make a $30 million strategic investment in Eve Urban Air Mobility. In a March 18 announcement, the Spanish company said it will complete the deal once the Embraer subsidiary has achieved its planned combination with Zanite Acquisition and subsequent New York Stock Exchange listing, which is anticipated during the second quarter of 2022.
As part of the agreement, Acciona chairman and CEO Jose Manuel Entrecanales will become one of seven directors on Eve’s board. The company intends to support Eve’s efforts to bring a four-passenger eVTOL aircraft into commercial operation by 2026, and also develop supporting infrastructure for urban air mobility (UAM) services.
According to Acciona, its main focus is on what it calls, “regenerative solutions for a decarbonized economy.” In addition to being active in the energy and water industries, the company is also involved in various transportation and infrastructure activities. The announcement indicated that the partnership will focus on components of the UAM ecosystem such as vertiports, power purchase agreements, battery charging solutions and aircraft ground handling arrangements.
“Whether we like it or not, the world’s population is increasingly concentrating in larger cities,” said Entrecanales. “Keeping the climate footprint of these urban areas at bay is one of the greatest challenges of the decarbonization process we are all engaged in. Urban air transport models such as the one proposed by Eve can be very useful when considering different sustainable mobility solutions.”
Meanwhile, in related news, Eve’s parent company Embraer today announced several new partners for its Project EASy work in developing autonomous flight technologies. The Brazilian aircraft manufacturer said that U.S. companies Near Earth Autonomy, Iris Automation and sensor simulation experts Ansys are now collaborating alongside Swiss artificial intelligence and machine learning specialist Daedalen and Brazil’s Motora.ai to advance several new autonomous applications for both simulated and real flight conditions.
Embraer indicated that the Project EASy partners could contribute to Eve’s plans in the UAM sector, but also to other new products.
