Zag Daily

In #9 of Zag’s Radar Series, CEO of LYTE Aviation Freshta Farzam unveils her vision for revolutionising regional and humanitarian transport with the 40 seater hybrid electric SkyBus. “Our vision was to scale up dramatically—offering ten times the passenger capacity, ten times the range, and embracing hydrogen technology..It starts with boldness and mindset. We have to allow ourselves to think bigger and expand our horizons.” #AAM #ZagAir Read more: https://lnkd.in/gHMpKNMV

Zag's Editor looks at the strategies of shared micromobility operators consistently delivering positive EBIT and what Segway Commercial as a vehicle solution provider is doing to promote the industry's long-term financial success. SWING in South Korea, Ryde Technology in Norway and JET from Kazakhstan are some clear examples of operators generating healthy profits. Speaking with industry expert Prabin Joel Jones, he said: “A common trait among successful companies is their lean approach: minimal reliance on VC funding, small HQ and tech teams, and G&A costs kept below 20%.” Read more: https://lnkd.in/eZF6aEj3

Archer has completed construction of its 400,000 sq ft eVTOL manufacturing facility in Georgia. The ARC facility will produce the company’s Midnight eVTOL aircraft, with initial manufacturing starting in early 2025. The site is expected to create over 1,000 jobs, supported by Georgia’s renowned aerospace education network. "Georgia is home to more than 800 aerospace companies and maintains a robust aerospace education pipeline, with a dozen high schools that offer training in the field, five technical colleges with aviation programs, and several universities offering degrees in aerospace engineering,” Glen Burks, Archer’s Vice President of Operations, told Zag Daily. #AAM #ZagAir Read more: https://lnkd.in/eUXbj88a

Wing and DoorDash have launched the first drone delivery service from U.S. shopping malls, debuting at Brookfield Properties’ Hulen Mall and Stonebriar Centre in Dallas-Fort Worth. Jesse Suskin, Head of Corporate Affairs at Wing, told Zag Daily: “From the beginning we designed our system to be lightweight, with minimal infrastructure and processes that fit into existing workflows. For example, we’ve developed the AutoLoader to make drone delivery as easy as fulfilling any other order without anyone needing to interact directly with the drone.” #AAM #ZagAir Read more: https://lnkd.in/dpFtEqnz

French mobility provider Free2move, owned by Stellantis, has partnered with tech platform Invers to install its car sharing technology into its fleets across the U.S. The CloudBoxx solution is a dedicated sharing telematics unit, connecting the car with the operators IT backend as the basic layer of automated rental. “Through CloudBoxx, which is supported by our industry-leading managed connectivity, car sharing operators can guarantee instant vehicle unlocks anywhere, anytime,” Bharath Devanathan, Chief Business Officer at Invers, told Zag Daily. “With an average reaction time of 450ms, end customers get to enjoy the fastest and most convenient shared mobility experience available.” Read more: https://lnkd.in/eqf3t8pk

It’s a Wrap: Veo CEO Candice Xie reflects on a game-changing 2024 that saw them achieve market profitability, launch innovative vehicles, and partner with new markets to drive sustainable urban mobility. Now a top micromobility provider in North America, the company operates in over 50 cities, proving that sustainable, two-wheel solutions are a critical part of the urban transport puzzle. “In 2024, we entered 10 new markets, including NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Cleveland, Ohio, and Queens, NYC. Looking ahead, we’re set to launch in at least four more markets in spring 2025, including Columbus and Ohio State University, all under exclusive, long-term contracts.” Read more: https://lnkd.in/gzrGDc9M

Honeywell Aerospace Technologies and Regal Rexnord are collaborating to address the challenges of scaling production in AAM. The partnership aims to integrate Honeywell’s flight control systems with Regal Rexnord’s automated manufacturing expertise. David Shilliday, Honeywell’s General Manager for Advanced Air Mobility, told Zag Daily: “The manufacturing capacity required for AAM volumes will require a shift in traditional aerospace scaling. Producing aerospace quality components at volumes approaching automotive requires a change in how you design-for-manufacturing – Regal Rexnord has agreed to partner with us on that journey.” #AAM #ZagAir Read more: https://lnkd.in/djbxTacR

Head over to the Urban Mobility Explained (UMX) platform and you’ll find more than 50 free online courses for any professional seeking to broaden their knowledge on our sector. The short courses can take up to six months to design and are developed by handpicked industry experts.  Zag spoke with Course Development Manager Adrien Moulin and E-learning Team Manager Blanca Fondevila to find out more. “The 50 online courses are made up of text, videos, activities and quizzes and take on average 2 – 4 hours to complete.” Adrien said one of his favourite courses explores how hydrogen is used in sustainable urban mobility. “It is a topic that very few people understand, but this course gives real examples of where hydrogen is being deployed and new applications that could have significant ramifications.” Read more: https://lnkd.in/exEhNXFw

Starting summer 2026, Aria Hotels will use BETA TECHNOLOGIES’ Alia-250 eVTOL aircraft to connect visitors to Greece’s hard-to-reach destinations. Greek hospitality group Aria Hotels has already invested €50M in developing eVTOL infrastructure in the country and has now ordered 10 of Beta’s eVTOL aircraft. “We are working closely with the Aria Hotels team—including some on-site visits to Beta—as we start to work on the next phase of implementation,” a Beta Technologies spokesperson told Zag Daily. “This will include aircraft operations and infrastructure installation to make sure their first locations are ready for service launch.” #AAM #ZagAir Read more: Read more: https://lnkd.in/eadgbWFg

It’s a Wrap - the COO of Delivery Mates charts the sustainable logistics firm’s progress over the past 12 months, a year that saw a 25% increase in completed deliveries and an emissions saving equivalent to over 135 tonnes of CO2. “By the end of December we will have topped three million deliveries across the UK, including 150,000 during our first year of operating in Glasgow…Despite deliveries increasing, we reduced our emissions by 30%,” Kevin Savage tells Zag Daily. Read more: https://lnkd.in/esCxHbh9