cross pond high tech

Flying cars have long been the centerpiece of fantastical future visions, but personal flying machines never quite materialized. One startup, however, is looking to change that.

Lilium Aviation has today announced a €10 million ($10.7 million) funding round from Skype cofounder Niklas Zennström’s Atomico, to create a world “in which everyone can fly anywhere, anytime,” the company says. But the electric Lilium jet isn’t a car as such — it doesn’t have wheels.

The jet remains a prototype for now, but with its latest funding round the company is looking to expedite development, with flight-testing kicking off in early 2017 ahead of commercial production.

It’s hard not to get excited when people start talking about flying cars — after all, who doesn’t want a flying Jetsons car? When 2016 Hello Tomorrow Challenge grand prize winner, Lilium Jet, got on stage to present the world’s first vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) personal aircraft, the audience was captivated. Before us was an image of a futuristic egg-shaped personal jet, majestically soaring above the glistening ocean.
Incubated under the auspices of the European Space Agency’s business incubation center in Bavaria, the young team of German engineers and doctoral students from the Technical University of Munich has a lofty ambition: to disrupt the future of everyday commute.
With Lilium Jet, people can move to rural areas while working in big cities, because long distances can be covered in a fraction of the traditional time.
Instead of queueing at an airport to go from Munich to Milan, you stroll into your garden, hop onto your Lilium, and take off; we’re talking about a garden of at least 15 x 15 meter. With electric engines, the Lilium is both quieter and more environmentally-friendly than helicopters. Classified as a light sport aircraft for two occupants, the Lilium can fly up to 300 km per hour, and requires only 20–30 hours of training as opposed to the costly, time-intensive training required to fly helicopters. Same as getting a driver’s license.