[anonymouse008]

> The eVTOL space is currently seeing a Cambrian explosion of different design concepts, but the first to see economic viability I think will be the simpler ones.

Mind expanding a bit on this? And curious where you are now instead of this space... is it because you see the tech too far out?

My original interest began with the SkyCar 400 from Moller. The same design theory of a lot of eVTOLs today; just with a petrol motor. The petrol motor reduced responsiveness of the control system, but I always thought it would work out in software.

eVTOLs are wonderful, but I think any eVTOL without a 'hot swap' battery is going to be DOA in terms of the personal transport revolution.

[Centmo]

I ended up moving on for personal and geographic reasons, nothing to do with the tech. The tech is all there for short-haul flights with batteries as the only limiting factor for range and speed.

There are various paths to economic viability for an eVTOL aircraft but I don't see how Lilium's current prototype fits into any of them. Unlike an ultralight design, it will require a certified pilot to chauffer passengers around until the day when full automation moves into the aviation space. Other than selling as an extravagant toy, this limits it to air taxi service. The design is complex so will be very expensive to buy and to maintain, so I don't see it as an improvement over existing helicopters beyond the 'green' energy source and claimed lower noise.

I am familiar with the Moller SkyCar. Lots of promises were made and broken, and lots of money burned on that project. Many modern eVTOL concepts suffer from the same basic design flaw: forward flight hanging from small propellers is inefficient. If you care about range, you need the lift of a large airfoil. Moller also had stability issues, but the responsiveness of electric propulsion and the advances in IMUs have solved this problem.

I think you can have a viable eVTOL product without a hot-swappable battery in the same way that electric cars have shown.

[nradov]

For air taxi service do you think the battery can be recharged in the time it takes to unload passengers, service the cabin, and load new passengers? If there's a long delay for charging that kind of kills the economics.

[HPsquared]

They could swap the batteries out, maybe.

[HPsquared]

A landing pad for something like the Lilium would get a lot less NIMBY attention than a helicopter pad though, which is often a major factor in decision-making.

[vidarh]

Their marketing has been all about taxi services for years. It's unclear if you'll ever he able to purchase one.