Electric air taxis are taking flight. Can they succeed as a business? (original) (raw)

SALINAS, Calif. — Twelve electric rotors whirring, a van-size aircraft lifted vertically into a bright sky and cruised smoothly over an artichoke field.

The 10-minute test flight, controlled from a nearby trailer, took Archer Aviation a small step closer to a future imagined for decades by dreamers, engineers and frustrated commuters — a time when it’s possible to soar over traffic in an air taxi.