Looking at it, you wouldn't think the Lilium Jet could fly.

It looks more like a computer

mouse than any aircraft you've seen, and its 36 small propellers run on electricity, not jet
fuel. But this funky airplane just proved it can take to the sky, and it might be the flying car
you've been waiting for.

The jet, which isn't actually a jet, can take off and land vertically like a helicopter and fly
like an airplane, making it just the thing for congested cities because it doesn't need a
runway. In other words, it's everything you want in a flying car: It picks you up wherever
you are, and plunks you down exactly where you want to go.

A full-size prototype of the airplane made its maiden voyage an airfield near Munich earlier
this month. It lasted just a few minutes, with no one in either of the two seats, and a pilot
controlling it from the ground. But it flew, proving that the unconventional design isn't total
malarkey.

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"The basic challenges are solved," Lilium CEO Daniel Wiegand told WIRED and WIRED
Germany in an exclusive interview. Now comes several years of flight testing before
moving into serial production. The German startup has backing from the European Space
Agency and millions in funding, which will help Wiegand meet his goal of tripling his staff
to about 135 people.

Still, Lilium has a long way to go before a weird electric plane with a big battery, three
dozen propellers, and room for five passengers carries anyone anywhere, let alone 190
miles at 190 mph, as Wiegand envisions.

"I'd say that's impossible off the top of my head," says Richard Pat Anderson, who runs the
Flight Research Center at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and is developing his own
vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. "They're definitely exceeding some fundamental
math."

Despite advancements in battery techElon Musk thinks they've reached the point where
they can power an 18-wheelerjet fuel still stores far more energy per pound, a key
consideration in an industry where weight trumps just about everything. So far, Airbus has
succeeded in squeezing 60 miles and 137 mph from the 350-pound battery in its
experimental two-seater eFan.

The faster and farther you want to fly, the bigger a battery you require. Eventually, you hit a
point where the added mass outweighs the benefits of more kilowatt-hours, which is why
Airbus decided to try a serial hybrid approach instead and Anderson's team started there.
Serial hybrid aircraft use a fuel-burning generator to recharge the batteries while flying,
which makes them something like a flying Chevrolet Volt.

But let's say Lilium makes this happen, even if it doesn't quite deliver the specs Wiegand
proposes. Building its wild electric plan leads to the Uber-esque air taxi service Wiegand
envisions. That could workif his startup solves a few other problems. The first is figuring
out how to certify an entirely new kind of aircraft (Europe will be easier than the US, which
doesn't even have any way to regulate electric planes), set up the necessary landing and
takeoff infrastructure, and ensure air traffic control can handle an invasion of aircraft flying
a few hundred feet above city streets.

OK, let's say Lilium solves all that. Then, it gets to fight the competition. Advances in
battery tech and electronic flight controls, paired with the success of car-based ridesharing
services, have a few startups chasing the same dream. China's EHang wants to launch its
passenger-toting drone in Dubai (of course) this summer. Aeromobil in Slovakia and
Terrafugia in Massachusetts have their own take on flying cars (or, as Terrafugia calls it,
"roadable aircraft"). Joby Aviation wants to launch an electric flying taxi service within five
years.
And if Lilium's going to win customers away from all those opponents, offering the right
balance of speed, range, and cost becomes critical. So yes, the first flight is good news. But
don't expect your flying car to take off just ye

Perhaps the biggest threat now facing Tesla isnt its ability to scale up Model 3 production
or nail down autonomous driving software; it might actually be that the mainstream auto
industry is finally entering the market Elon Musk's upstart car company has long
dominated.

For five years, Teslas Model S has monopolized the luxury electric sedan market, but that
dominance is now besieged. Porsche is spending more than a billion dollars to develop the
the Mission E, a svelte speedster it plans to launch in 2020. Audis planning an onslaught of
new EVs over the next three years, including the A9 e-tron, which will become the
automakers new flagship.

Now, BMW joins the enemies at Elons gates. This week at the Frankfurt Motor Show it
revealed the i Vision Dynamics, a four-door electric car it says will offer a range of 373
miles and performance specs that rival Teslas (a top speed of 120 mph and a 0 to 60 mph
sprint in four seconds). As the Vision bit of the name indicates, this is just a conceptfor
now. Compared to the fully bananas Vision Next 100 Concept it made to celebrate its 100th
birthday, the i Vision is all about the near-term future and will go into series production at
some point in the next few years. Indeed, it looks more like a car you could buy than many
conceptsit just needs real sideview mirrors and maybe some regular door handles.