JoeBen Bevirt hopes to make his company's electric air taxis as cheap as hailing a rideshare, he told Axios' Joann Muller at the annual What's Next Summit in D.C. on Tuesday.
The big picture: Bevirt, the founder and CEO of electric air taxi developer Joby Aviation Inc., said he wants to make the electric air taxis "accessible to everyone."
The California-based company is among the startups making eVTOLs — electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft.
What he's saying: "We want a price that's comparable to what you would pay for a taxi or an Uber," Bevirt said.
Bevirt said this type of aircraft is "not some science fiction reality that's going to happen far into the future." Instead, it is "happening right now."
The company, which Bevirt started in 2009, has set a goal to be at a run rate of an aircraft a month by the end of 2024.
Between the lines: Bevirt envisions a world where you get off a Delta flight and into one of Joby's air taxis "as seamlessly as possible."
"We're building vertiport infrastructure at JFK and LaGuardia and LAX to give that really fantastic customer experience of a tight integration between your Delta flight and your Joby flight," he said.
Flashback: Joby Aviation began partnering with Delta Airlines in October 2022, and the airline said it would invest up to $200 million in the electric air taxi company.
Last December, Joby Aviation also unveiled a partnership with Nomura's real estate group.
Zoom out: Bevirt is a serial entrepreneur who holds dozens of patents.
Prior to starting Joby Aviation, Bevirt co-founded laboratory robotics company Velocity11 in 1999, which Agilent Technologies acquired in 2007.
He also started Joby Inc. in 2005, which focuses on consumer products.