If It Flies or Floats

Welcome to Go Above Traffic.

The eVTOL newsletter giving you more to chew on than a pack of Juicy Fruit.

Upwards and Onwards!

What you need to know in eVTOLs this week

Vertical Aerospace

UK based Vertical Aerospace just unveiled its latest full-scale eVTOL.

Over the next several months they’ll put the aircraft to the test - pushing to higher altitudes, faster speeds, and eventually transitioning from vertical to forward flight.

If all goes well, there are riches waiting at the finish line - there are ~1,500 pre orders for worth $6 billion. And they’re from big players like Virgin Atlantic, American Airlines, Air Asia.

Joby Aviation

If the photo above doesn’t look like Joby’s eVTOL to you then you have a good eye.

That’s a Cessna 208B Grand Caravan.

So what does that have to do with Joby?

Well the folks at Joby flew that thing autonomously (NO PILOT) 3,900 miles between military bases and public airport in California and Nevada.

The plane was remotely supervised using a laptop and a satellite communication terminal. That’s it.

The future is here.

SkyDrive

Japanese eVTOL maker SkyDrive secured $55 million in Series C funding.

Big name investors like Mizuho Bank and Osaka Metro contributed to the round.

In addition to kicking some cash, Osaka Metro, one of Japan’s largest public transit operators, is working with SkyDrive have eVTOLs available for the 2025 World Expo in Japan.

SkyDrive has a better shot at getting eVTOLs up and running than Volocopter had in Paris this year.

Dufour Aerospace

Dufour’s Aero 2 is the Swiss Army knife of eVTOLs.

And they just conducted the first hover flight of the production-ready prototype outside of Zurich.

The difference with Dufour’s Aero 2 is that is wasn’t built to move humans around.

The hybrid electric aircraft is designed for cargo delivery, medical and organ transportation, topographical surveys and surveillance.

Dufour is also building out another eVTOL - the Aero 3, which will be able to transport patience between hospitals and offer emergency medical services.

Mock Ups

Quick question - are these mock ups getting out of hand?

Is it a bit lazy?

Are these marketing folks just googling famous landmarks and throwing an eVTOL over it?

I get it - gotta sell the dream a bit to get clicks but c’mon…

Just something I’ve noticed….

The Markets

Or “The Casino” if you prefer the Wall Street Bets mentality…

When I said we should get comfortable around these prices, I wasn’t kidding.

Not a ton of change WoW and that’s probably a good thing.

Might even be a good time to add to your position in the eVTOL company of your choice.

We may look back at these prices one day and realize these months of flat prices were golden opportunities.

As long as you don’t pick one of the eVTOL companies that will inevitably blow up.

The $100K Life Savings Bet

Any new technology tends to go through a 25-year adoption cycle.

- Marc Andreesen

I hope that guy who started one of the most successful VC firms in history is wrong.

Or that Joby is the exception, not the rule.

Or that eVTOL’s aren’t technically a “new” technology. More of a mash up of current technologies so it doesn’t need the 25 year adoption cycle.

Who has that kind of time?

We’re betting my $100K life savings turns into a 10-100X investment in about half that time.

So are we in the money?!

We are down about $2K at the moment.

But until we’re up or down ~50% or so, these movement mean very little.

These fluctuations are not based on traditional fundamentals.

The only real change is the amount of cash in the bank shrinks a bit week by week. And the runway for Joby to generate some meaningful revenue, or raise more capital, shrinks right along with it it.

Other than that, the ebb and flow of the stock price isn’t worth losing sleep over… Until it pops!

Lighten Up

Final Question

What percentage of the US population knows what eVTOL stands for What will that percentage by in 2030?

— best reply gets a shoutout next week.

Best Answer From Last Week

I asked “Will this year’s presidential election have any significant impact on eVTOLs?

Best reply came from Theo in California:

“Absolutely not. Doesn’t matter who wins - All that will happen is hand waiving and empty platitudes either way. It will have no impact on how successful eVTOLs are or are not.

The best thing the Federal government can do is not get in the way.”

Thanks for reading and let us know what you want to see more of next week. We read every single reply.

Stay above.

— The Above Traffic Team