Wednesday, September 6, 2017

Here Comes Another Electric Flying Taxi Startup

Repeating our October 2016 Mission Statement:
As the only analysts covering the nascent as-yet-theoretical autonomous electric flying taxi market we intend to be the the go-to source for all things autonomous electric flying taxi and/or theoretical....
And the latest, from Next Big Future:

Lilium raises $90 Million for flying electric taxi that is targeting commercial operation in 2025
Lilium raised $90 million (Tencent led the round) which will be used for the development of the five-seat Lilium Jet that will fly commercially. Lilium will grow their current team of more than 70. In April they achieved a world first when the full size prototype successfully performed its most complicated manoeuver – transitioning between hover mode and horizontal flight.

In April, Lilium announced a world-first test flight of its all electric, two-seater, vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) prototype. Lilium expects the first functional crewed jet to take off in 2019, and the on-demand feature to go live in 2025.



The five-seat all-electric will have vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL). The funding will shift Lilium into accelerated development mode, bringing the company’s vision of ubiquitous and affordable zero-emissions air taxis – summoned at the tap of a smartphone – closer to realization.
The jet requires no significant infrastructure and they will be able to bring high speed transportation services to small cities and villages as well as large city centres for the first time.

The Lilium Jet will be able to travel at up to 300 km per hour for one hour on a single charge – meaning an example 19 km journey from Manhattan to JFK Airport could last as little as five minutes. The jet’s economy and efficiency means flights are predicted to cost less than the same journey in a normal road taxi....MORE
Previously:
July 2017
Flying taxis to transport passengers in Moscow in 2018 
Meanwhile, it appears the much heralded Dubai taxi service, which was due to begin service in July, has been delayed a bit... 
October 2016
Uber to Challenge Airbus in the Autonomous Electric Flying Taxi Business
October 2016
The Effect Of Airbus' Cash Squeeze On Their Autonomous Flying Taxi Project Is Probably Nil
August 2016
"Airbus Reveals Ambitious Plan for Autonomous Flying Taxis"
Your move, Uber....