Lilium, a Munich-based startup, is developing an on-demand air taxi service, has revealed its new five-seater air taxi prototype for the first time. The unveiling of the new Lilium Jet came as the all-electric aircraft completed its maiden flight in Germany earlier this month. Co-founded in 2015 by Daniel Wiegand (CEO), Sebastian Born, Matthias Meiner and Patrick Nathen, the company has attracted more than $100m in venture capital from world-class investors.
With a top speed of 300 km/h and a range of 300km, Lilium Jet is capable of completing much longer journeys than its competitors’ thanks, in part, to the fixed wing design of the aircraft. But here?s the intervention, though: drone-based aircraft consume most of their energy to remain in the air. Lilium Jet relies only on the lift generated by the fixed wing and requires less than ten percent of its maximum 2000 horsepower during flight at cruising speed.
According to Lilium, ?the Lilium Jet features two fixed wings, one main wing at the rear of the aircraft, which measures about 11m across, and a ?canard? wing at the front of the aircraft, so-called because of its resemblance to a duck. The canard wings each have two flaps and the main wings have four. We mount three of our pioneering all-electric jet engines on each flap, allowing them to pivot and change the direction of the thrust they create. The flaps can each move independently.

The full-scale, full-weight prototype is powered by 36 all-electric jet eng...