Welcome To The Lilium – Your Personal Electric Plane

Look back at any picture of the future from twenty years ago and they all have one thing in common, Flying cars! While we may have just started working on self-tying shoes and actual hoverboards, the idea of a flying car is still years away as we figure out the kinks in its technology. Till then we might just have to settle with the Lilium, your personal electric plane.

Lilium is more than just a dream, it’s backed by a team from the Technical University of Munich and the European Space Agency (ESA). Set to have a 310-mile range alongside a 10,000-foot ceiling and VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing) abilities, the Lilium could be the first step towards personal and private planes without the giant gas spewing engines.

With a set of wings and ducted fan engines that swivel to provide it with the VTOL abilities, the craft is set to be classed as a light sports aircraft, offering people with as little as 20 hours of training the ability to fly the craft.  Although it’s set to go through testing the craft will be limited to the standard runway take off for now, with approval for vertical takes off taking a while to get approval for considering the computerised element of it.

While not the first group to express interest in electric VTOL vehicles, the initial test flight of a half-scale prototype only makes the concept look more promising as people start imaging that flying DeLorean all over again.