Testing electric flying taxis before takeoff in Bay Area would speed up commutes

SAN JOSE, California. – An entirely new type of electric plane could soon fly over the Bay Area.

The designers tell KTVU it could cut an hour of commute on the road to just ten minutes in the air.

KTVU was given rare access to Archer Aviation’s production facility San Jose to watch the air taxi prepare to take off.

The electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft looks like something out of science fiction, but Archer Aviation’s Midnight, which has been in development for more than a decade, could soon transform travel.

“It’s getting very close to the point where people can fly this and make it part of their daily lives.”

Chief Technology Officer Tom Muniz is one of the company’s 900 employees who live primarily in the Bay Area.

Traveling at speeds of 150 miles per hour, the air taxi reduces an hour-long road trip to just ten minutes.

“Let’s say you want to fly from the East Bay to SFO,” Muniz said. “Maybe it’s a ten-mile trip, you know. Tickets cost less than a hundred dollars.”

Approved by the Federal Aviation Administration in late October, this is the first new category of civilian aircraft, which the FAA calls “powered lift,” since the introduction of helicopters in the 1940s.

The air taxi takes off and lands like a helicopter, but flies like an airplane.

“The total energy on board is about double what you would find in a Tesla Model Y.”

It is powered by six batteries that can be charged in about 10 minutes between flights.

There are twelve propellers, which Muniz says makes it safer if one fails, and much quieter than a helicopter.

“It’s actually so bad that you can’t hear the plane anymore when it flies over.”

There is room on board for four passengers and hand luggage.

Future pilots learn to fly Midnight in a life-size simulator at the San Jose facility.

The company plans to build five landing sites around the Bay Area, including one over the water at Oyster Point in South San Francisco, along with Oakland, San Jose, Livermore and Napa.

So, how do you catch a flight?

“In the future, it’s very likely that you’ll see our aircraft on rideshare platforms, but I think in the early days it will be more like services through someone like United (Airlines).”

United Airlines has already ordered 200 hundred Midnight air taxis for its own fleet.

The US Air Force is also testing the aircraft.

Test flights are currently taking place Sagittarius Aviationfactory in Salinas, near Monterey.

A spokesperson for Archer Aviation said that while it takes more than an hour to drive from San Jose to South San Francisco, Midnight can make the trip in 10 minutes.

When can we expect Midnight?

Muniz said the plane is expected to fly outside the U.S. in late 2025, with flights to the Bay Area expected sometime after that.

The exact date is subject to FAA approval and has not been specified.