Over the past few years we’ve seen a number of promising flying car concepts that are closer and closer to reality with each prototype.
And yesterday something big happened. Lilium Aviation successfully tested their VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) vehicle. Lilium flying car has 2 seats, a range of 300 km and a speed of 300 km/h.
The car is really compact and is basically as loud as a motorbike. It’s powered by the same battery that Tesla uses in their electric cars so no special jet fuel or gasoline is needed – something other flying car manufacturers can’t boast about.
Lilium flying car does not need a runway to operate. Instead of the traditional concept of a lengthy speed-up process the car lifts off the ground like a helicopter. 36 small engines can operate both to lift and speed up the vehicle depending on the position of the wings.
Vertical take-off and landing gives Lilium a decisive advantage over the previous prototypes that need a lot of space to take off and land – practically excluding them from packed up urban environments.
Lilium cars can use helicopter infrastructure that is already developed in many cities. Combining vertical take-off and landing with the advent of self-driving AI and a much safer electric engine Lilium flying cars may have come to market at a very fortunate time.
Lilium claims of high safety and low maintenance costs seem convincing, too. The car can lift off and land safely with 3 failed engines and does not hog on power at low speeds which is something that other jet engines are guilty of.
With this number of killer features Lilium has a real chance to set high standards for a new market of affordable, zero-emission, low-noise electrical flying cars of the future.
The company goes as far as promising air taxi service through their phone app. If the team behind the model is capable of delivering on their promises, we are going to live in a very different world a few decades from now.
Mark my word: a combination of airplane and motorcar is coming. You may smile, but it will come.
