At the Paris Olympics, one of the exciting ideas was to have electric flying taxis taking people around the city. However, the plan didn’t work out as expected.
Germany’s Volocopter, which promised to make these flying taxis a reality, ended up only conducting demonstration flights instead of offering actual services. Behind the scenes, the company was struggling to raise money to stay afloat.
They had tried to get a loan of €100 million from the government, but talks failed. Now, hopes are resting on China’s Geely, which might invest $95 million and take a majority stake in Volocopterpter is part of a group of companies trying to develop electric aircraft that can take off and land vertically, similar to a helicopter.
These aircraft promise to be quieter and more affordable. However, the high costs of getting these planes approved and building production capabilities have led some investors to back out .
Anoth, Lilium from Germany, was also working on an electric vertical take-off aircraft, but it recently faced major financial problems.
The company had to put its operations into insolvency proceedings after failing to secure a much-needed loan. It had already spent €1.5 billion developing its aircraft, but the money ran out .
On the other hcal Aerospace, a British company, has made some progress with its aircraft, but it too faces financial difficulties.
It has had issues with key partners, and its founder is now struggling to keep the company afloat, despite efforts to secure new investments .
One European project, AtyAirbus NextGen, seems to be doing better. The aircraft is small, with a range of 80km, and is part of a project that looks likely to survive because Airbus has the money and resources to continue. Other well-funded companies like Joby and Archer in the U.S. are also making progress .
The challenge now is whether thetaxis can find a profitable market. Initially, they might serve as connections between airports and city centers, but there are concerns about the cost of operations, especially related to pilots and batteries .
Despite the uncertainty, many investors juard, hoping to get in on the next big breakthrough in aviation, similar to how Tesla changed the electric car market .