Flying Cars Get Off the Ground

Once relegated to the realm of science fiction, the idea of flying cars and taxi-like services provided by aircraft may be part of the near future thanks to the efforts of a number of entrepreneurs, including Google co-founder Larry Page, companies such as Uber and Airbus, and the government of Dubai. Although each party is developing unique machines, the concept is similar: lightweight commuter vehicles that are easy to fly. Most are electrically powered, and many take off and land vertically and are called eVTOLs (electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles).

An early pioneer in flying taxis was Kittyhawk (launched by Larry Page) which created a 12-rotor, single-propeller aerial taxi called Cora that is roughly the size of a Cessna 150. The craft can travel at speeds of up to 93 mph and has an all-electric range of 62 miles. Additionally, Kittyhawk worked on developing two vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft, the Flyer and Project Heavyside. In 2019, Kittyhawk entered into a strategic partnership with Boeing (which conducted a successful test flight of its own autonomous air taxi in early 2019) to collaborate on further projects. Kittyhawk and Boeing established a joint venture called Wisk Aero (wisk.aero). In late 2022, Kittyhawk shut down operations, leaving Wisk as an active subsidiary of Boeing. As of mid-20224, Wisk had agreements with airports in Houston, Texas and with Airservices Australia to implement infrastructure and set up management and associated services to begin autonomous air taxi service in the near term. Also in 2024, Wisk acquired aerospace software firm Verocel, Inc. By late 2025, the subsidiary had completed more than 1,750 test flights and had established an additional launch market in Los Angeles County, California.

Joby Aviation, Inc. (www.jobyaviation.com) completed a flight in August 2025 in FAA-controlled airspace between Marina and Monterrey, California airports. Its electric aircraft takes off and lands vertically, can carry up to four passengers and one pilot and plans to fly commercially by early 2026. Delta Airlines invested $60 million in Joby in a strategic partnership, while Toyota invested the first $250 million of a promised $500 million in the company in 2025. Joby is also backed by Uber Technologies, Inc. In August 2025, Joby acquired Blade Air Mobility’s passenger business for about $125 million.

American Airlines invested $25 million in Vertical Aerospace Group Ltd. (vertical-aerospace.com), a UK-based startup. The airline is expected to buy up to 250 of Vertical’s four seat flying taxis when they become commercially available (perhaps as early as 2028). Additional investors in Vertical include Honeywell International, Inc., engine-maker Rolls-Royce Holdings, PLC, Microsoft Corp.’s venture capital fund and hedge fund manager Jason Mudrick. Moreover, the company had 1,500 preorders of its VX4 prototype worth $6 billion as of late 2025 from customers including Virgin Atlantic, American Airlines, GOL and Bristow.

Meanwhile, United Airlines announced plans to purchase up to 200 flying taxis worth up to $1 billion from Archer Aviation, Inc. (archer.com), a startup based in Palo Alto, California and another $15 million in Eve Air Mobility. Archer’s Midnight is a four passenger eVTOL which Abu Dhabi Aviation plans to deploy in late 2025 or early 2026.

Other flying cars close to release or in development include Volocopter GmbH’s two-seat, electric Volocity; and AeroMobil’s two-seat, $1.6 million AeroMobil 4.0. Uber is also working with the cities of Dallas and Dubai to demonstrate a fleet of flying cars.

In October 2024, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) established regulations for commercial use of eVTOLs under a new “powered-lift” category. The regulations include instructor certification and operational rules.

Flying Car, Electric and Personal Aircraft Companies to Watch:

AeroMobil, www.aeromobil.com

Archer Aviation, www.archer.com

Joby Aviation, www.jobyaviation.com

Karem Aircraft, www.karemaircraft.com

Moller International, moller.com

Vertical Aerospace Group, vertical-aerospace.com

Volocopter GmbH, www.volocopter.com

Wisk Aero, wisk.aero

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.

Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.

Become a Plunkett Research Online subscriber to gain unlimited access to our massive amount of vital industry data and market research.

✔ 100,000 Industry Statistics
✔ 500 Industries Analyzed for Market Size, Profits and Forecasts
✔ 150,000 Industry Executives Profiled
✔ 25,000 Companies Profiled, Ranked and Analyzed
✔ 1,000 Vital Trends Analyzed, totaling 1,000,000 words

Learn More

Flying Cars Get Off the Ground, Business and Industry Trends Analysis

A Representative List of Organizations that Have Used our Research and Products:

How to access Plunkett Research data.

What data challenge can we help you solve today?

Take a Tour

Contact

Testimonials