You’re either on the bus or off the bus. That’s a quote from Ken Kesey, the leader of the Merry Pranksters, a group of early hippies and hipsters who traveled on a bus called Further in 1964 and introduced LSD to the party scene. Kesey’s comment was both an inside joke – often one of the group’s too-stoned companions got left behind at any given time – and a metaphor for not being aboard with the plan.
The same could be said about the idea of flying cars. On one hand, Blade Runner spinners don’t seem all that preposterous anymore, especially if you can scale up production AND the infrastructure required to support what will eventually be a swarm of drone-like electric vehicles – also known as electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. But is this idea of urban air mobility – featuring eVTOLs and other types of battery-powered and autonomous drones, vehicles, and droids – even achievable and profitable? Are we on the eVTOL or off the eVTOL? (Doesn’t really have the same ring, does it?)
And Then There Were Three eVTOL Stocks
We started talking about these questions last month with an article on the six publicly traded eVTOL stocks on the market. A few things became pretty clear. This is a risky, speculative play, with absolutely no immediate commercial viability. These companies are either still in some phase of R&