Midnight, the new eVTOL aircraft from Archer Aviaton, is set to make its European debut at the 2023 Paris Air Show, the company confirmed.
In partnership with automaker and mobility provider Stellantis, Archer will share “progress toward scaling manufacturing of Archer’s Midnight eVTOL aircraft as Archer prepares for planned commercialization in 2025”.
The aircraft is sure to be one of the stand-out exhibition items at the Paris Air Show’s 54th edition.
Midnight will be the featured eVTOL aircraft, positioned in the center of the Air Mobility event, located in Hall 5 at Le Bourget Airport.
Stellantis is contributing advanced manufacturing technology and expertise, experienced personnel and capital to the partnership.
The pairing hopes that their partnership will “leverage each company’s respective strengths and competencies to bring the Midnight aircraft to market at scale”.
“This combination is intended to enable the rapid scaling of aircraft production to meet Archer’s commercialization plans, while allowing Archer to strengthen its path to commercialization by helping it avoid hundreds of millions of dollars of spending during the manufacturing ramp up phase,” Archer announced in a statement on June 8, 2023.
Archer is seen as one of the frontrunners in the race to be the first aviation company to secure certification for eVTOL flight.
The company has already secured an agreement with United Airlines to provide eVTOLs.
On March 23, 2023, United and Archer announced that plans were afoot to launch a regular air connection between Chicago O’Hare (ORD), the city’s main international airport, and Vertiport Chicago.
Midnight is designed to be capable of flying distances of up to 100 miles but optimized to conduct back-to-back flights of 20 miles, with 12 minutes of charge time in between.
Up to four passengers with luggage, plus a certified pilot, will be able to travel onboard Midnight, which is powered by six independent battery packs, each supporting a pair of electric engines.