Air taxis: the latest on the flying electric cars bringing the Jetsons dream to life

There's a future where we don't need roads and regular folks like you and me can jump into a boat-sized electric pod and just fly anywhere on a whim. While we've been perfecting the miracle of human flight for more than a century, instant air transportation has long been relegated to science fiction.

But in the last decade, many companies have stepped up to help get flying cars and air taxis out of the Hollywood movie magic bubble. Startups like Joby Aviation and Archer are building electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft that can taxi several people around in the sky without burning nasty fuel. The air taxi dream is already passing some regulatory milestones: the FAA has now established rules.

Although these vehicles aren't exactly the "flying cars" we've imagined, this is a rapidly growing new field with big established automakers like Toyota, Hyundai, Stellantis, and others either bankrolling their own ventures or one of the dozens of startups. And there's a whole lot of drama and unpredictability in this new industry, from fighting over "stolen" patents to the companies that've failed to survive, like Lilium and the Larry Page-funded Kitty Hawk. Scroll down to read the latest on air taxis.

Two years before German air taxi manufacturer Lilium promised to deliver its first two aircraft to customers, the air taxi pioneer has run out of money and will imminently stop making them. In a filing to the US SEC, Lilium says it cannot acquire the funding to continue operations in its subsidiaries (Lilium GmbH and Lilium eAircraft GmbH), and is going into insolvency. We've been covering the company continually since 2017, when it successfully took its first flight in Germany.

Lilium had previously confirmed it had begun assembling its first two all-electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft in Germany, while working towards certification from the EASA and FAA, but its first customer deliveries weren't slated until 2026. The FAA had just finalized its rules for eVTOL operation requirements this week.

The Federal Aviation Administration published highly anticipated final regulations for electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles that it says will chart the path for the "air travel of the future."

The FAA says these "powered-lift" vehicles will be the first completely new category of aircraft since helicopters were introduced in 1940. These aircraft will be used for a variety of services, including air taxis, cargo delivery, and rescue and retrieval operations. The final rules published today contain guidelines for pilot training as well as operational requirements regarding minimum safe altitudes and visibility.