Air Taxis

On the heels of eVTOL startup Lilium shutting down, air taxi builder Volocopter may close its doors having filed for insolvency due to lack of funds. On December 26, 2024, the Karlsruhe Local Court in Germany placed the company in administration.

German eVTOL startup Lilium has ceased operations as of this week – sunsetting a decade-long effort funded with over $1 billion to build electric air taxis, with nary a single aircraft delivered.

China's EHang has completed what it calls the world's first solid-state battery test in a pilotless passenger-carrying eVTOL. With nearly 500 Wh/kg of energy density, the solid-state battery contributes to a serious boost in endurance.

Austrian flying vehicle tech company CycloTech is building an eVTOL demonstrator to showcase its CycloRotor-powered propulsion system for electric flight. The firm is hoping to commence test flights in early 2025.

Seven years after its first test flight, German electric air taxi manufacturer Lilium has run out of funding, and filed for insolvency for its two subsidiaries. It failed to raise an emergency injection of $54 million to continue its operations.

In a major jump into the era of eVTOL air taxis and multicopter cargo drones, the US FAA has issued new regulations that introduce the first new aircraft category, called "power-lift" aircraft, since modern helicopters were introduced in the 1940s.

Volocopter's plans to trial air taxi passenger flights from a floating platform on the River Seine during the Olympics have been thwarted by bureaucracy. However, the company has managed to kick off the eVTOL operational validation phase.

Eve has unveiled its first full-sized prototype eVTOL (electric Vertical Take-off and Landing) air taxi today during the UK's 45th Farnborough Airshow. It's called the Eve Air Mobility.

Vertical Aerospace has pulled back the hanger doors on the second full-scale prototype of its four-passenger VX4 tilt-rotor eVTOL. The latest flavor has been given a significant power boost, and features proprietary batteries for the first time.

In a stunning validation of hydrogen's potential in aircraft, Joby Aviation has made an incredible 523-mile non-stop flight with its S4 eVTOL air taxi. That's more than triple its range on batteries, and an absolute landmark moment for clean aviation.

After nailing its first full-size eVTOL transition in 2022 with the Maker, Archer Aviation has revealed that its Midnight aircraft has successfully transitioned from hover to horizontal flight, before going on to clock speeds of over 100 mph.

Vermont's Beta Technologies has emerged a leader in the eVTOL space, and it's now become the first to perform a successful transition – from helicopter-style hovering to airplane-like cruising – with a pilot on board.