Danny in the Valley—aka Danny Fortson, West Coast correspondent for the UK's Sunday Times—did a good job getting Lilium founder and CEO Daniel Wiegand to open up about the eVTOL start-up's business plan in this recent podcast. He talks about how the German company got launched and how the science drives everything.
There are places in the podcast where I found myself yelling out questions and wishing Danny in the Valley had pushed Danny in the Black Forest a bit harder, such as:
* When are you going to achieve full vertical-to-horizontal flight transition with your full-scale prototype?
* Why are you so sure that your all-electric design will be able to fly up to around six times further than other aircraft depending on current lithium-ion batteries? How exactly do the wing-borne ducted fans make so much difference?
* Can eVTOL air taxi really cost no more than taxis cabs on the ground? Surely, you are grossly under-estimating the cost of all the ground infrastructure and regulatory requirements?
* You say that multiple cities have approached Lilium to get services launched. Really, which ones and what exactly are you doing to help these cities prepare?
* How can it make sense for Lilium to both build and operate the aircraft? This is not a business model that has worked for any other aircraft manufacturer. What experience does the Lilium team have of operating aircraft on a commercial basis? What preparations are you making to do this?
That said, it's an engaging interview next time you've got 40 minutes to spare.