I think the "electric flying Taxi" has a big future. If I was entrepreneurial billionaire this is what I would get into.
When I look at the already available Hydrogen Fuel Cell quadcopters that can fly for up to 4 hours depending on the model/size of the hydrogen tank, it's clear that it scales even better for full-sized human transport for electric zero-emissions flight.
NO ARGUMENT this will come at a cost premium compared to just being driven around in a 4 wheeled car, but the private jet industry is very successful/popular with the rich, they all get around on their own private Gulfstream jets.
These people like Leonardo Dicaprio/Arnold Schwarzenegger often to go to SJW events like conferences on CO2 emissions and tell the middle-class/poor that they must lower their carbon footprint, but they ignore the fact that their flight in a Gulfstream is about ~300 times the amount of co2 then travelling the same distance in a regular combustion car etc.
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/private-planes-jets-tech-billionaires-2019-3?r=US&IR=T
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/elon-musk-should-fly-his-gulfstream-g650er-jet-anywhere-he-wants-2019-1?r=US&IR=T
Hydrogen Fuel VTOL taxies will be far more accessible to more of the general public than private-jets ever will be by ~10,000x times.
Check out some of the Hydrogen fuel-cell drones that are available with multi-hour flight ability.
[youtube]AHlrLU7kTys[/youtube]
[youtube]IdOdyhNM4uk[/youtube]
Doosan Mobility recently demoed their Hydrogen Fuel-Cell drone flying 43miles/70kilometers between two islands over the ocean to transport medical supplies/gear. And the drone is rather tiny, this proves this is just the beginning.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3Yo4eaJ8o4
[youtube]R3Yo4eaJ8o4[/youtube]
Hyundai is all over fuel-cell and electric flying car development, but I think they are trying to fly under the radar for the most part.
Hyundai Motor eyes thrust on electric vehicles in $52 billion investment plan
Hyundai Motor is also looking at developing flying cars, which could be commercialized ahead of the most advanced self-driving cars, its executive vice chairman, Euisun Chung, has said.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hyundai-motor-investment/hyundai-motor-eyes-thrust-on-electric-vehicles-in-52-billion-investment-plan-idUSKBN1Y8054
Hyundai S-A1 Air Taxi first look at CES 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6K7GAG1Aas
[youtube]L6K7GAG1Aas[/youtube]
SKAI has been the most transparent about their aim to build a hydrogen fuel-cell VTOL.
These are real pictures below was the unveiling for public viewing/inspection of their model of what their aim to scale up the technology that's already being used in fuel-cell drones now https://skai.co/
https://fuelcellsworks.com/news/alakai-technologies-launches-worlds-first-hydrogen-powered-air-mobility-system/
https://www.zdnet.com/article/hydrogen-powered-air-taxi-yup-its-real/
https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/techandscience/hydrogen-powered-flying-vehicle-touted-as-southern-california-traffic-tonic/ar-AACa12C#image=8
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-hydrogen-aircraft/hydrogen-powered-flying-vehicle-touted-as-southern-california-traffic-tonic-idUSKCN1T0078
https://www.thestreet.com/video/worlds-first-hydrogen-powered-flying-car-skai-video-14977875
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhMP5237dGA
[youtube]uhMP5237dGA[/youtube]
The problem people don't get with pure Lithium battery celled aircraft is that lithium cells degrade, and often degrade very quickly and unpredictably when stressed via flight.
Everyone here who has built a high powered e-bike and then used a small lithium battery knows the cells degrade really fast. Same with lithium-powered quadcopters. Electric cars do the very opposite, they use huge batteries that barely get stressed and can degrade very slowly over time, they can "cheat" because it simply doesn't matter how heavy a 4 wheeled car is.
We can already see lithium battery failure in flight for the very first commercial electric aircraft that was designed to train pilots on how to take off and land, because takeoff/land was the only thing it was good for because it had no range.
https://insideevs.com/news/366037/alpha-electro-g2-electric-airplane/
https://ww.electrek.co/2019/08/18/electric-plane-crash-lands-into-lake/#
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-norway-crash-idUSKCN1V423N
Norway’s first battery-powered plane ends up in a LAKE after crash-landing while being flown by the boss of the firm hoping to revolutionise the aviation industry
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7357941/Norways-battery-powered-plane-ends-LAKE-crash-landing.html
https://youtu.be/rsCLJ27pIm0
[youtube]rsCLJ27pIm0[/youtube]
^This will be a problem FOREVER for pure lithium battery flight, unless we have a TRULY miricle breakthrough in batteries, I have read every post in here https://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=57256 and 100x more around the web over the years and I just don't see it happening.