Lilium aims to have a fleet of craft operating in cities across the globe by 2025, providing a pay-per-ride service that will be emission-free, be five times faster than a car and produce less noise than a motorbike. The model, which achieved a first for a jet in 2017 when a prototype successfully transitioned between hover mode and horizontal flight, will have a 300km range, allowing it to travel between New York and Boston in just an hour.
Delbrueck will join Munich-based Lilium as its first CFO in September after serving as acting CEO at German energy company Uniper. He was head of finance during Uniper’s formation via a 2016 spinoff and listing of UK energy supplier E.ON’s fossil-fuel power generation business.
Lilium has raised US$100 million to fund development work, including US$90 million secured in 2017, though further financing will be required to go to full-scale production, Delbrueck says. Only once the business is up and running will the company be in a position to consider an IPO, he adds.
Gaining regulatory and public acceptance in the US is seen as a key step for Lilium, especially in light of the number of existing helipads and airfields that could host its craft and pare spending on infrastructure. Initial applications will assume a pilot is on board, though the model will be fully autonomous.
There are more than 100 different electric-aircraft programmes in development worldwide, according to Roland Berger, with Lilium’s biggest competitors including Joby Aviation and Kitty Hawk, whose models are electric rotor rather than jet-powered, as well as planned offerings from Airbus, Boeing and Bell Helicopter, which is partnered with Uber Technologies.
