Crash, delay and restart for German eVTOL manufacturers!

Lilium had to file for insolvency for the second time in February 2025. This time, the end is probably the final.

Airbus is pausing its eVTOL development from the end of 2025 due to concerns about the maturity of current battery technology.

Volocopter is now an Austrian and Chinese company: The company Diamond Aircraft will integrate the German eVTOL pioneer into its corporate structure; the company is primarily known for its light aircraft with particularly economical diesel engines.

Diamond has been majority-owned by the Wanfeng Auto Holding Group, a Chinese automotive and aviation supplier, since 2017. Due to the many headlines about the three eVTOL pioneers, two other Bavarian e-aircraft start-ups are falling out of focus:

ERC is developing an eVTOL specifically for air rescue and the horizontal transportation of patients. The technical concept – a wing-based eVTOL with fixed vertical and horizontal rotors – is simpler than that of Lilium and has already proven itself with competitors from the USA and China.

Vaeridion develops an electric, 9-seater regional aircraft with the aim of better connecting regions with poor transport links.

What must not be forgotten: outside Germany, eVTOL development continues apace. For example, the Japanese manufacturer Skydrive and the US start-up Lift are demonstrating the current state of development of wingless eVTOL (multicopters) with demonstration flights at this year’s Expo in Osaka.