Futuristic 'Flying Taxis' Coming to Florida Soon

Urian B., Tech Times 06 November 2020, 12:11 am

Florida is known for its consistent strange news stories one after another. In the past few weeks itself, one resident has awkwardly reported that an alleged alligator in her garage actually turned out to be just a pool floatie according to News 18, while another discovered a python inside her washing machine according to MSN. A horse has also been found stuck inside a septic tank by the local fighters according to anycbs4.

Orlando residents might be able to see Lilium flying taxis soon

The reports have gotten even more bizarre as Orlando residents reportedly stated that they have been seeing flying taxis in the sky. Lilium Aviation, a particular five-year-old company in Munich, Germany, is a venture-backed startup that is working on designing electric vehicles built for take-off and landing jets. The company is reportedly trying to see tax incentives from the actual city in order for them to build a large 5,200 square meter foot transportation hub along with the promise of it being able to create about 100 high-wage jobs, according to bizjournals.

According to the official Orlando Business Sentinel reported by TechCrunch, the proposed facility is a landing and takeoff area which is said to be part of Lilium's very first transportation network to be located in the United States. This project would represent a $25 million investment and, with the city's estimates, generate about $1.7 million in actual economic impact over the span of 10-years.

Lilium's perfect timing for flying taxis

The timing is actually quite smart for Lilium, whose current planes aren't still expected to be finally up and running until the year 2025 which is a really strategic time to be talking to cities about the additional airport revenue. The passenger traffic has already fallen through the floor due to the pandemic and even the cargo traffic has not been considered immune at all. Currently, 95% of the total revenue that airports get comes from the said aeronautical as well as non-aeronautical services.

Lilium has also reportedly been spending a little more of its money after being able to raise $35 million during a fresh funding that was led by Baillie Gifford back in June. Baillie Gifford is reportedly the largest investor in Tesla according to Crunchbase. This round of funding has been able to bring the company's total funding amount as of current to a whopping $375 million in total.

Other notable investors in the company include Tencent Holdings, Atomico, and Freigeist. As of the moment, there is still no exact date as to when the flying taxis can be expected. There are currently also at least 15 different so-called flying taxis and cars all in development according to Digital Trends. There's also no information as to if the company plans to move its operations outside of Florida as of the moment.