An assessment of current and on-the-horizon eVTOL technologies for a flying car

This paper presents an assessment of current and on the horizon eVTOL technologies that may have the potential to develop into a useable flying car. The quest has shown a clear trend towards distributed propulsion system, the eVTOL aircraft tend to use three different configurations, multicopters, vectored thrust and lift+cruise, offering different payload and range performance. The highest payload and range performance is offered by the Lilium Jet that, also, deploys the largest span, 13.9 m, in its class. It is concluded that a true flying car, that is compact enough for the road and can take off vertically, does not exist yet. The solution may be in searching alternative energy sources such as hydrogen fuel and other sustainable aviation fuels.