Flying Taxi coming Your Way Soon at the Same Cost as Regular Taxi 1

Flying Taxi coming Your Way Soon at the Same Cost as Regular Taxi

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 A German company plans to make  flying taxi that you can order through an app a reality in the next six years. Lilium is the German start up that is looking to bring this to life.

Co-founded in 2015 by Daniel Wiegand, Sebastian Born, Patrick Nathen and Matthias Meiner, Lilium GmbH is based near Munich, ​Germany – an internationally renowned high-tech hub for mobility. The founding team met while studying at the Technical University of Munich where they shared a common vision of revolutionizing the way we travel.

Today, Lilium has attracted more than $100m in funding and employs more than 300 people, bringing together a wealth of experience and expertise from across the world.

Munich-based startup Lilium unveiled its five-seater electric air taxi prototype on Thursday. The Lilium Jet, which conducted its first flight earlier this month, is part of an app-based flying taxi service that the company expects will be “fully-operational in various cities around the world by 2025.”

Flying Taxi coming Your Way Soon at the Same Cost as Regular Taxi 2
Lilium was founded in 2015 and since then the startup has made strides in realizing it’s dream. (Image Credit: Lilium)

 

The battery-powered jet is capable of traveling 300 kilometers (186 miles) in 60 minutes on a single charge, and will connect cities through a network of landing pads. Commuters will be able to book rides from their nearest landing pad through a smartphone app.
Lilium did not reveal how much its service will cost, but claims that it will be “comparable in price” with regular taxis. Remo Gerber, the company’s chief commercial officer said it is aimed at ordinary people and not just well-heeled business travelers.
“Today we are taking another huge step towards making urban air mobility a reality,” Lilium co-founder and CEO Daniel Wiegand said in a statement. “We dream of a world where anyone can fly wherever they want, whenever they want.”
Flying Taxi coming Your Way Soon at the Same Cost as Regular Taxi 3
Despite having competition from bigger brands, Lilium expects to make longer journeys. One of the prototypes flying over New York (Image Credit: Egadget)
The start up will come up against really good competition from already established companies and transport hailing brands like Uber who are believed to be partnering with NASA to bring flying taxis into existence by the year 2023.
Companies like Boeing and Rolls Royce are also said to be venturing into the business of flying taxis and this will be a huge competition for the startup but they believe that they will be able to make longer journeys as compared to the competition from the bigger brands.
Skype co-founder Niklas Zennström, Chinese tech giant Tencent and Atomico are the funders of the startup who have collectively invested $100 million to see the startup realize it’s dream.
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