United Airlines
is investing $15 million in
Eve Air Mobility
with
an agreement to purchase up to 400 of its electric vertical take-off and
landing aircraft.
This comes less than
one
month after United paid $10 million to Archer Aviation
for 100 of its eVTOL
aircraft.
This new investment is for 200 of Eve’s four-seat electric aircraft
– which have a range of 60 miles - plus the option to purchase 200 more.
Under the terms of the agreement, United and Eve will also work
together on projects including studies of the development, use and application
of Eve’s aircraft and the urban air mobility ecosystem (UAM).
“United has made early investments in several cutting-edge
technologies at all levels of the supply chain, staking out our position as a
leader in aviation sustainability and innovation,” says Michael Leskinen, president
of United Airlines Ventures, the airline’s corporate venture fund.
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“Today, United is making history again, by becoming the first
major airline to publicly invest in two eVTOL companies. Our agreement with Eve
highlights our confidence in the urban air mobility market and serves as
another important benchmark toward our goal of net-zero carbon emissions by
2050 – without using traditional offsets. Together, we believe our suite of
clean energy technologies will revolutionize air travel as we know it and serve
as the catalyst for the aviation industry to move toward a sustainable future.”
United Airlines Ventures is intended to support the company’s 100%
green commitment to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 without the use of
traditional offsets.
Eve launched in 2017 as a startup within Brazilian aircraft
manufacturer Embraer’s EmbraerX technology incubator. The company went public
in May of this year.
“United's investment in Eve reinforces the trust in our products
and services and strengthens our position in the North American market,” says
Andre Stein, co-CEO of Eve.
“I am confident that our UAM agnostic solutions, coupled with the
global know-how we have been developing at Eve and Embraer’s heritage, are the
best fit for this initiative, giving United’s customers a quick, economical and
sustainable way to get to its hub airports and commute in dense urban
environments. It is an unparalleled opportunity to work with United to advance
the U.S. UAM ecosystem, and we look forward to it.”