Lilium - the secretive Munich-area startup whose performance promises for its Lilium Jet electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxi have drawn interest from German Chancellor Angela Merkel (who has a PhD in quantum chemistry) and public disbelief from German academics and others - seems to have proven the old saying that, "There's no such thing as bad publicity." Last January, German aviation publication AEROKURIER and Der Spiegel, Germany's leading news magazine, published analyses and comments from engineers (one anonymously, four by name) who concluded, based on minimal data Lilium has released, that the company's fully electric Lilium Jet - with 36 ducted fans in the tilting wings and canard - can't possibly fulfill Chief Executive Officer Daniel Wiegand's repeated promise that the eVTOL will carry five people 300 km (186.4 miles) at 300 km/h (186.4 mph) with reserve power to spare.
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