Startup To Launch Flying Taxis In New York By 2025, Will Beat NYC Traffic

Lilium_J008_air-taxi-flying-into-new-york_print — Lilium Jet air taxi flying into New York Lilium

Forget Uber, Lyft, or even Tesla's robotaxis, flying taxis can get passengers to where they want to be at a fraction of the time. Lilium, a Munich-based startup, plans to introduce its fleet of air taxis in New York by 2025.

The Lilium Jet is a five-seater plane with electric-powered engines that the startup company developed. The fully electric jet can zip through the air at 62 miles per hour but can accelerate close to 200 and travel up to 180 miles on a single charge, according to Chief Commercial Officer Remo Gerber in speaking to YFi PM.

"The cost of the energy is comparable to what would cost with an electric car, and that's really transformative," said Gerber.

Founded in 2015, Lilium wants to make transport from urban to suburban areas, and even city to city travel much faster. The trip from New York to JFK International Airport is estimated to take only six minutes, but if by car, that's about 25 to 30 minutes. From Los Angeles to Huntington Beach beach, it takes only 12 minutes. As far as the pricing goes for a trip from Manhattan to JFK, the company is looking to peg it at $70.

"It opens up entirely new ways, how we can connect cities ... and how you can connect different communities, how we can make people live and work in different places, and how we can optimize as well where we build new facilities or new areas to live," said Gerber.

2025 Launch
Back in May, the team at Lilium was already able to conduct a successful vertical take-off and landing with their prototype jet. In October, the company also finished its first phase of testing.

Still, the target date for when their planes carry passengers through big cities is not until five years from now. For Gerber, it's about working closely with regulators to achieve the safest standard for their air taxis.

"There are no shortcuts in aviation," said Gerber.

"So in order to achieve all of these things, in order to achieve the safety... we have to work through a very laborious process to go to the regulator."