Flying car startup eyes 2025 takeoff following US, EU certification

Flying cars have captured the public imagination for decades, but have yet to enter the mainstream. However, with investors pouring cash into the sector, could the 2020s be the decade when sci-fi vision becomes reality? German startup Lilium certainly hopes so. 

The startup announced this week that the design of its all-electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) jet has been approved by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Lilium’s primary airworthiness authority, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), issued its approval — known as a ‘certification basis’ — for the jet in 2020.   

Lilium, which has raised a whopping $1bn to date since its founding in 2015, has developed an eVTOL jet — which differs from the helicopter-style craft developed by most eVTOL startups —  that it hopes will take passengers faster and further than the competition. It aims to begin commercial flights from late 2025. 

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