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German air-taxi developer Lilium said on Thursday two of its subsidiaries in the country have decided to file for insolvency following unsuccessful talks with state and federal governments to solve its cash crisis.
The company's U.S.-listed shares fell 57% to 23 cents after the subsidiaries - Lilium GmbH and Lilium eAircraft GmbH - told the parent they are over-indebted and will be unable to pay debts over the coming days.
Lilium is now "reviewing whether there are grounds for its own insolvency as well," it said in a regulatory filing.
The company, among a handful of air-taxi makers that are seeking to upend urban travel, was staring at a cash crunch as it is still developing aircraft that is yet to receive approval to carry passengers.
Lilium had asked the German federal government to guarantee 50 million euros ($54 million) of a contemplated 100 million euro convertible loan from KfW, the German state-owned development bank.
But the company received indications that the federal government would not approve it, Lilium said. Talks with Bavaria, where Lilium is based, for guarantee of at least 50 million euros have not yielded an agreement so far.
The filing for insolvency in Germany could result in the company's ordinary shares being delisted from the Nasdaq, or having its shares suspended, Lilium said.
Founded in 2015, Lilium is targeting the regional transport market with a 250 kilometer-range (155 miles) jet that can carry up to six passengers, unlike many rivals which are mainly looking at shorter trips between cities and suburbs.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 27, @11:03AM (2 children)
Unless this video is an elaborate hoax it did seem to fly though: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywJWka1evH8 [youtube.com]
Which is more than can be said for many other similar airtaxi wannabes.
The real problem is as Coltrane puts it - the market. And sane regulators won't allow that many of such air vehicles per cubic+square km.
Would it be significantly safer than a helicopter for a comparable price or even cheaper? If yes, then maybe some very rich people might be interested. Quite a number of very rich people have died in helicopter crashes - and not even self-piloted.
(Score: 2) by Kell on Sunday October 27, @02:40PM (1 child)
Oh, I'm sure it's real. The problem isn't making something fly (check out the X-planes from 1950-1970 for many examples of wacky flying things), but how efficient and performant it is. The amount of power Lillium needed for take off mean that it had to hugely over-invest in power density, not energy density. Even if they used a clever hybrid of lipo cells and fuel cells or something equally complicated, they were never going to get the range/payload they needed. The market can be served by treating it like a helicopter, just faster - but it couldn't because helicopters were superior flying machines (including viz safety).
Scientists ask questions. Engineers solve problems.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 28, @01:09AM
If I were a multi-billionaire interested in stuff like that that's what I'd have to confirm before deciding whether to burn some money. If it's > 90% the resulting bonfire would be more spectacular at least... 🤣