Joby Aviation announced on July 15, 2025 that it has doubled its production capacity at the manufacturing facility in Marina, California.

The upgraded site is expected to produce up to 24 electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft annually.

Additionally, the company began production at a new components facility in Dayton, Ohio.

Joby, headquartered in Santa Cruz, California, has also delivered its first eVTOL aircraft to the United Arab Emirates.

The company plans to launch service in Dubai next year under a six-year exclusive agreement.

🔗 Source: CNBC

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ A decade-long journey from concept to production

Joby’s manufacturing expansion represents the culmination of a remarkably long development cycle that began in a small Santa Cruz workshop.

The company started in 2012 with just seven engineers in a facility nicknamed “The Barn,” partnering with NASA on early electric flight technologies before flying its first full-scale demonstrator in 2017 1.

This decade-plus development timeline illustrates why manufacturing scale-up is so significant. It’s the final phase of a long-term bet on electric aviation that required massive capital investment, including a $100 million Series B round in 2018 led by Intel Capital 2.

The lengthy development periods seen in the eVTOL industry, with competitors like Archer also spending years on R&D before production, highlight how capital-intensive and technologically complex these ventures are compared to typical software startups.

Joby’s milestone of flying its sixth aircraft concurrently with manufacturing expansion shows how the industry is finally transitioning from prototype development to commercial production after years of engineering work.

2️⃣ A high-stakes manufacturing race among eVTOL competitors

Joby’s announcement reveals an intensifying production race among eVTOL manufacturers competing to establish early market leadership.

While Joby aims to produce 24 aircraft annually at its California facility and up to 500 at its Ohio plant, competitor Archer has announced aggressive targets: 250 aircraft in 2025, 500 in 2026, and eventually scaling to 2,300 per year at its Georgia facility 3.

Recent Joby Aviation developments