Shift Magazine - May 2021 - 4

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ournalists are trained skeptics. In our
newsroom, few topics draw as much
healthy skepticism as aerial mobility.
" Nothing but glorified helicopters, " the
response might go when the subject turns to
electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. Don't
even mention the rare, but very real, bona fide
flying car, which can zoom through in the sky
then drive on the road.
It's easy to understand why people are
reluctant to believe in such technologies.
Depending on your generation, the notion of flying cars may evoke memories
of a certain future-themed cartoon series from the 1960s (I promised myself I
wouldn't mention it in this issue) or a popular time-travel film that co-starred a
flying DeLorean - one with vertical landing ability to boot.
But the new developments we're seeing in air mobility are not works
of fiction. Something has to be motivating automakers and entrepreneurs
to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in research projects and to form
partnerships to explore the technology. At one point, even Uber and Boeing
wanted a piece of the action. Some air mobility ventures are headed for
the public markets, including Lilium, which is merging with a blank-check
company led by a former General Motors executive. (See Staff Reporter
Alexa St. John's story on Page 11.)
This issue of Shift started out as a passion project for the staff, as we saw
major automakers showing serious interest in electric vertical takeoff and
landing vehicles and also saw flying-car ventures beginning to win government
certification. Wall Street also seemed to be on board. " Seriously ... Flying Cars
ARE Coming, " read the headline of a January report by Morgan Stanley.
Yes, there are significant regulatory and cost hurdles, but it's not too much
of a stretch. As you'll see on Pages 6-7, the aviation and automotive industries
have a long history together, most notably, Detroit's days as the " Arsenal
of Democracy " during World War II, when automakers began cranking out
bombers and fighter jets to support the troops. Even zeppelins have an auto
connection, as you'll read in " Last Mile " on Page 26.
In " Flying in Tight Formation, " Page 8, our resident aviation enthusiast,
Deputy Mobility Editor Pete Bigelow, who previously was certified as a
commercial pilot and a flight instructor, details how aerial technology could
represent the next step in diversifying automakers' mobility offerings. In
" Learning by Deadly Example " on Page 24, he also examines the valuable
lessons that airplane disasters could teach the auto industry about the pitfalls
of automation complacency.
We also take you to space in this issue. Reporter C.J. Moore writes about the
race to build the next lunar rover in " Reaching for the Moon " on Page 18, and
on Page 22 correspondent Jack Keebler explains why Tesla and Geely are taking
steps to launch thousands of satellites into low-Earth orbit in " AI in the Sky. "
So I suppose the lesson from this issue is sometimes if you want to look
forward, you have to look up.

STAFF
Editor
Leslie J. Allen
Chief of Editorial
Operations
Dave Versical
Chief Content Officer
Jamie Butters
Managing Editor
Mary Beth Vander Schaaf
Deputy Mobility Editor
Pete Bigelow
Reporters
C.J. Moore
Alexa St. John
Copy Editors
Amy Butters
Tim Good
Elizabeth Hardy
Cindy Orosco-Wright
Contributors
Marcus Amick
Jack Keebler
Design Director
Steve Massie
Associate Publisher
Karen Rentschler

Leslie J. Allen, Editor
lallen@crain.com

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Shift Magazine - May 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Shift Magazine - May 2021
