Lilium’s successful test flight of the world’s first electric VTOL jet

Lilium has successfully tested its all-electric vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) jet for the first time, and you can watch the inaugural test flight above. The basic concept of a VTOL is that it has the benefits of a helicopter in terms of taking off without requiring a huge runway, but once airborne, it can still achieve the higher top speeds of a fixed wing aircraft like a jet.

The Lilium Jet actually completed a series of tests (the condensed version is above), using this two-seat prototype of the larger craft it eventually hopes to create. Lilium also marked the occasion by announcing a new 5-seater design, which it envisions will be used for on-demand flying taxi and ride-sharing services in the future. They’re promising us flying cars, in effect.

Lilium’s 100-percent renewable electric power is its key defining trait; plenty of others are looking at VTOL tech, but many, including DARPA, are using a hybrid fuel approach to work around some of the design and performance challenges of relying solely on electric.

Using jet-powered flight once the craft is airborne also has big benefits in terms of energy economy once you’re cruising through the air; Lilium says that it can get a range of around 186 miles from its battery and a top speed of about 186 mph, too, which is much more than what you’d get out of a large rotor-only vehicle with similar battery capacity.

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