"FUNDAMENTALLY, IT's an electric business jet-it just happens to take off and land vertically," says Alex Asseily, vice chair of German aerospace startup Lilium. He's talking about Jet, the company's all-electric, fixed-wing aircraft that recently soared over its first few regulatory hurdles and is expected to enter production next year. Just don't call it a flying car-Asseily sees it as more of a minibus.
It's one of dozens of eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft being developed around the world. There are two main designs: The first, which includes those from Lilium and California-based Joby, has fixed wings like a plane but engines that tilt to change the angle of thrust, so it can take off and land without a runway-much like the UK's groundbreaking Harrier fighter jet. The other type, popularized by German startup Volocopter and Chinese company EHang, are known as lift and cruise multicopters and look like the offspring of a drone and a helicopter.
This story is from the October 2022 edition of WIRED.
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This story is from the October 2022 edition of WIRED.
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