SAN JOSE, California. – An entirely new type of electric plane could soon be flying over the Bay Area.

Designers tell KTVU it can cut an hour-long trip on the road to just ten minutes in the air.

KTVU gained rare access inside Archer Aviation’s production facility in San Jose to see how the air taxi prepares for takeoff.

Electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft sounds like science fiction, but Archer Aviation’s Midnight, in development for more than 10 years, could soon transform travel.

“We’re getting really close to the point where people will be able to fly in it and make it part of their daily lives.”

Chief Technology Officer Tom Muniz is one of the company’s 900 employees, most of whom work in the Bay Area.

Traveling at 150 miles per hour, the air taxi cuts a one-hour journey to just ten minutes.

“Let’s say you want to fly from East Bay to SFO,” Muniz said. “It’s maybe a ten mile trip, you know. Tickets would be less than $100.”

Having received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration in late October, it is the first new category of civil aircraft, which the FAA calls “powered lift,” since the introduction of helicopters in the 1940s.

The air taxi takes off and lands like a helicopter but flies like a plane.

“The total energy on board is about twice what you would find in a Tesla Model Y.”

It is powered by six batteries that can be recharged between flights in about 10 minutes.

There are 12 propellers, which Muniz said makes it safer in case of failure and much quieter than a helicopter.

“It’s to the point where you can’t hear the plane as it flies overhead.”

There is room on board for four passengers and carry-on luggage.

Future pilots learn to fly Midnight in a full-scale simulator at the San Jose facility.

The company plans to build five landing sites around the Bay Area, including one over the water at Oyster Point in South San Francisco, as well as in Oakland, San Jose, Livermore and Napa.

So how do you get on a flight?

“In the future, it’s very likely that you will be able to see our planes on ride-sharing platforms, but I think in the early days it will look more like services provided by someone like United (Airlines).”

United Airlines has already ordered 200 hundred Midnight air taxis for its own fleet.

The US Air Force is also testing the aircraft.

For now, test flights are taking place at Archer Aviationin Salinas, near Monterey.

An Archer Aviation spokesperson said that while it took more than an hour to drive from San Jose to South San Francisco, Midnight could make the trip in ten minutes.

When can we expect midnight to fly?

Muniz said the plane is expected to fly outside the United States by the end of 2025, with Bay Area flights happening sometime after that.

The exact date would depend on FAA approval and was not specified.