Flying taxi startup Lilium unveils its new electric aircraft

The German Lilium began with a pretty bold idea: the development of a taxi fleet service of electric aircraft that can take off and land vertically (eVTOL). As inevitable as it sounds, Lilium is quite ambitious and hopes to offer it in early 2024!

The company presented its latest design for the electric air taxi, which will be able to carry up to 6 passengers (7 with the pilot), move at a speed of 280 km / h and at a distance of up to 240km, so it could be used for more distant transport to nearby cities beyond serving the residents of an urban center. Lilium's plan is for passengers to take their seats, such as when they order a common taxi. They consider launching the service in 14 cities in the US state of Florida, but they don’t rule out a pilot launch in Europe.

The aircraft has small-designed jet electric motors incorporated in the wings, resulting in dramatically reduced noise and increased autonomy due to its aerodynamic shape.

As Daniel Wiegand, co-founder, and CEO of Lilium said:

Our vision is to create a sustainable and accessible mode of high-speed travel and bring this to every community. Transport infrastructure is broken. It is costly in personal time, space consumption, and carbon emissions. We are pursuing our unique electric jet technology because it is the key to higher-capacity aircraft, with a lower cost per seat mile while delivering low noise and low emissions

It may not have delivered on its promises, however, Lilium has won over investors' interest and raised billions of dollars to continue its research. Who knows, maybe the flying electric taxis aren’t so far away as we think...