Joby Aviation Inc. (JOBY) has spent years pitching itself as the future of electric air taxis. But on its second-quarter earnings call, founder and CEO JoeBen Bevirt pointed investors toward something he thinks could eventually reshape aviation on an even bigger scale: hydrogen propulsion.
Hydrogen isn't part of Joby's near-term commercialization plans. But Bevirt said the company has been quietly researching it for more than six years because of what it could do for longer-range aircraft. The energy characteristics of hydrogen, he argued, could fundamentally change aircraft economics, making it one of the most significant advances in aviation in nearly a century.
Why Joby Is Looking Beyond Batteries
Asked by an analyst about hydrogen, Bevirt explained that the company's interest comes down to energy storage. Hydrogen can pack far more energy per pound than conventional aviation fuels.
"Hydrogen is something we began pulling the thread on back six-plus years ago," Bevirt said. "Hydrogen has three times the specific energy of jet fuel, and with our fuel cell systems, we can convert that chemical energy into propulsion about twice as efficiently as a small turbine converts jet fuel into propulsion."
That combination, he said, could let aircraft fly farther while carrying more passengers, tackling one of commercial aviation's biggest design constraints: the weight of fuel itself.
A Different Future for Aircraft Design
To illustrate the opportunity, Bevirt pointed to today's long-haul aircraft. Fuel makes up a big chunk of an aircraft's weight, and that weight drives everything from operating costs to how many passengers it can carry.
"Take an A320 versus an A350," Bevirt said. "The A350 flies twice as far with twice as many passengers. It weighs four times as much…weighs twice as much per passenger…so if you have a lighter-weight fuel, you can do really game-changing things with aircraft design."
Lighter fuel systems, he said, could dramatically change those trade-offs, enabling entirely new aircraft designs that are more efficient than today's conventional jets. That potential led Bevirt to make one of the boldest statements of the call.
"We think this is the biggest disruption in aviation since the invention of the turbine engine back in the 1930s," he said.
A Long-Term Bet Beyond eVTOL
For now, Joby's commercial roadmap remains centered on launching its electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. Management reiterated during the call that the company is on track to carry its first passengers this year, while continuing to scale manufacturing and certification efforts.
Still, Bevirt suggested hydrogen represents a longer-term opportunity the company believes is worth pursuing alongside its electric aircraft ambitions.
"We think that by being one of the world leaders, if not the world leader, we're going to see really significant upside over the years to come," he said.
For investors, the comments offered a glimpse beyond Joby's near-term focus on commercializing air taxis. While hydrogen remains an early-stage initiative, management signaled that it views the technology as a potential long-term driver of innovation in aviation, extending well beyond the urban air mobility market.
