Archer Aviation (Archer) has received an additional US$55 million investment from Stellantis, following the achievement of Archer's transition flight test milestone last month. This latest investment builds on Stellantis' series of open market purchases of 8.3 million shares of Archer's stock in March this year. During 2023, Stellantis invested US$110 million in Archer through a combination of open market stock purchases and investments under the companies' strategic funding agreement.
Archer remains on track to complete the construction of its high-volume manufacturing facility in Georgia later this year. The first phase of the build-out is a 350,000 ft² facility on a 100-acre site, designed to support the production of up to 650 aircraft annually. This would make it one of the largest manufacturing facilities by volume in the aircraft industry. Archer aims to establish a factory that can support its planned commercial ramp-up by leveraging the expertise of Stellantis as its contract manufacturer.
“Few things rival the excitement of seeing a dream take flight. I applaud the innovation, expertise and hard work of the engineering and manufacturing teams from Stellantis and Archer,” said Carlos Tavares, Stellantis CEO. “With this additional investment in Archer, we remain on course for a future where freedom of mobility extends beyond today's roads.”
Stellantis has been a strategic partner to Archer since 2020 through various collaboration initiatives and as an investor since 2021. During this time, Archer has leveraged Stellantis' deep manufacturing, supply chain and design expertise in connection with Archer's efforts to design, develop, and commercialise its eVTOL aircraft.
Archer's goal is to transform urban travel, replacing 60–90 minute commutes by car with estimated 10–20 minute electric air taxi flights that are safe, sustainable, low noise and cost-competitive with ground transportation. Archer's Midnight is a piloted, four-passenger aircraft designed to perform rapid back-to-back flights with minimal charge time between flights.