Start-Up Eve To Build ‘Flying Taxis’ In Brazil

Eve Air Mobility, the spin-off of Brazilian aerospace giant Embraer, is to produce its in-development electric air taxis in the city of Taubate, where Embraer plans to expand an existing facility.

“The manufacturing plant will be situated on a designated portion of land within Embraer’s existing unit in the city, [which] will be expanded,” said the company and its parent in a statement.

Taubate is about 87 miles east of Sao Paolo, Brazil’s economic capital, and 25 miles east of Sao Jose dos Campos, location of Embraer’s headquarter and its massive E-Jet production plant.

Eve’s engineering and human resources team are also located in Sao Jose dos Campos.

Production plans

The location at Taubate has access to two highways and is in proximity to a railroad, the start-up said.

A number of start-ups around the world are moving ahead with electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, which promise short-haul flights that produce lower noise than conventional aircraft and zero emissions.

Such vehicles are, however, still unproven with numerous technical and certification challenges remaining to be resolved.

Eve began as an internal development project at Embraer and was later spun out with the parent company continuing to own 90 percent.

The start-up said it plans to produce a prototype this year and hopes to be making passenger flights by 2026.

Electric experiment

Last month Eve expanded a deal with Blade Air Mobility to use Eve vehicles on its existing routes in Europe, which currently include flying conventional helicopters between locations such as Nice and Monaco.

Eve says it has pre-orders for about 2,800 air taxis.