The era of the electric aircraft has begun. Lilium Jet, a fuel-less flying vehicle born from a German start-up, has successfully completed its first flight, providing a glimpse of how it could enter into service as a flying taxi. The first step took place two years ago when a two-seater prototype marked a fundamental record: an electrically powered flight with vertical take-off and landing.

Now it is a whole different story. That first prototype was small, it had just two seats and was remote-controlled. The Lilium Jet is a much more mature vehicle, the result of a large investment of 90 million euros received in the start-up stage. It has five seats and its 36 electric motors connected to a generous battery allow it to travel 300 kilometres in 60 minutes. All of this obviously without the disturbing noise of jet engines. Lilium Jet is super silent, making just the faintest sound, and this is an essential feature in the event of flights over urban or other inhabited areas.

It has neither a tail nor propellers, and sports four large wings fore and aft which carry the 36 motors and their fans. During take-off and landing the wings point downward, to then turn when altitude is reached, allowing propulsion. As we said, the first flight has been successfully completed, but now the real challenges begin.

On the one hand, Lilium Jet has to pass a series of the most strenuous technical tests required by various European and US bodies. It then has to tackle the laws in the various countries in order to allow this new vehicle, which is little-known and greatly feared. The aeronautical field has always been very conservative, as demonstrated by some truly outrageous regulations issued for drones. In any case, the start-up is optimistic. It aims to create the first taxi service by the end of 2025. It may seem like a long way off, but from a technological point of view it is basically tomorrow.