Electric Flying Car Succeeds in its First Test Flight
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After covering a Kickstarter for the Alauda Airspeeder MK1 yesterday, I was surprised to find another flying car company in my news feed. Lilium Aviation is a German startup company, which has announced a monumental milestone - the success of its first flight test. The Lilium Jet has two seats and is powered entirely by electricity, using the same battery found in Tesla cars.
While everyone joked about flying cars in the past, they're quickly becoming a reality. Kickstarters and venture capitalists have brought millions of dollars into the industry. The technology in the Lilium Jet is similar to a Drone's. It uses vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) to propel it off the ground, similar to helicopter.
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The Lilium Jet achieves a max speed of 183mph and has a range of 183 miles. Most people would be reluctant to ride in one due to safety, but Patrick Nathen says, "Safety is a major emphasis at Lilium". The tests seen in the video above were piloted remotely, and a manned flight is not far away. Lilium hopes to find its niche for an on-demand flying car service, although Uber is already working on its own version.