Joby Aviation S4 // eVTOL Aircraft Overview by TransportUP

Quick Summary

Joby Aviation is a Santa Cruz, CA based company developing the Joby S4 eVTOL. The S4 has been kept predominantly under wraps from the public during the design phase, but recently announced plans for a new manufacturing facility to begin production of its vehicle. Joby's team is extremely experienced and has executed on numerous projects in the past that demanded a high degree of technical acuity, and the company is well-funded by Toyota and other investors.

Joby Aviation, a Santa Cruz, CA, USA based company.

Stage of Development

Preliminary Design

Prototype Build

Flight Testing

Certification

Commercially Operating

Technical Details

Aircraft Type: Winged VTOL

Powerplant: Distributed Electric Propulsion (DEP) System powered by lithium-nickel-cobalt-manganese-oxide batteries

Range: 150 miles

Top Speed: 200 mph

Propeller Configuration: Four (4) propellers tilt vertically including its entire motor nacelle, and two (2) of the propellers tilt vertically with a linkage mechanism

Passenger/Payload Capacity: 1 pilot and 4 passengers

Autonomy Level: Piloted

Dimensions: 35 ft wingspan, 24 ft length

Other Information:

Safety assurance in excess of CS-23 cert requirements
Unified flight control – extremely simple vehicle operations (SVO)
100 times quieter than a helicopter
Weight: 4,000 lb
Windows: Large windows for spectacular views for the passengers
Fuselage: Composite
Landing gear: Tricycle wheeled retractable landing gear.
First flight: On February 1st, 2018, a prototype executed a 15 minute, 15 mile loop which included a piloted vertical takeoff

Our Take on Joby

Joby's small media presence seems to be by design - Joby's team has been working with maximum intensity on bringing the project to fruition and testing their full scale S4 prototype. The company has recently closed large funding rounds - which included investors such as Toyota, JetBlue Baillie Gifford - and is demonstrating strong momentum as it stands up its new manufacturing facility in California. Once the facility is operational, it's likely we will be seeing substantially more news from Joby as it begins testing and certifying vehicles.