Northwest Aerospace News PNAA 2021 ADVANCE | Page 34

“ If one pack has a problem , you can shut it off .” He said they are exploring replaceable battery packs and said they also must be able to rapidly charge . Tibbitts looks forward to innovations from companies like Gogoro in Korea , which offer a land-based GoStation solution where you can pull up to the station , deposit your used battery and pick up a fresh one . “ The ability to have replaceable battery packs is intriguing ,” Tibbitts reflected .

Regarding financing , Tibbitts said “ We are in the tail end of the bridge round and have $ 105,000 raised , with a goal of $ 500,000 . I talk to investors and analysts daily who are waking up ( to this technology ). We want to close the bridge round and move to Series A ; those investing now will see their investment grow quickly in value .” He said that strategic partnerships will be a part of his success for ZEVA .
Tibbitts envisions an IPO in 2025 , “ The idea that we could have a run rate of $ 300 million in sales and a valuation over $ 1 billion — we can do that with the first responder and DOD business alone — that doesn ’ t even account for where we want to go within the consumer space .” He added that they are creating a company that is “ incredibly valuable .”
“ Morgan Stanley Research says autonomous urban aircraft may no longer be the stuff of comic books . Accelerating tech advances and investment could create a $ 1.5 trillion market by 2040 ,” according to the website https :// www . morganstanley . com / ideas / autonomous-aircraft .
The site suggests , however , that “ regulatory and societal concerns surrounding the technology will need to catch up to the tech itself ,” as a possible hurdle to consumer market entry .
Bills summarized , “ Think about traffic , there are a lot of people in the world ; there ’ s been a lot of movement toward urban centers — the idea of opening up another dimension , 2D is what we do now — 3D opens up so much space . These can be used to deliver packages , and used by first responders … a paramedic being able to fly over traffic ; unlike a helicopter , we have a smaller footprint .” The success of the idea is that traffic frustration should ease with eVTOL options like ZEVA ZERO in the near future .
ZEVA AERO Tacoma , Washington info @ zevaaero . com https :// www . zevaaero . com
34 NORTHWEST AEROSPACE NEWS