Photo: Mercedes-Benz
Electric cars and flying taxis: this is how the future of transportation is shaping up to be in the decades ahead. But whereas the world has come to accept and even embrace electric mobility, feeling at ease with countless machines flying over our cities is still a long way coming.
There are presently about a dozen - if not more – companies trying to make flying taxis, be it piloted or autonomous, a figment of reality. The list includes giants like Airbus, Boeing and NASA, Uber, but also smaller companies or startups the likes of Volocopter.
Volocopter is a German-based group that seeks to "lead the way in building up the ecosystem surrounding urban air mobility." Just like everyone else is trying to do, to be fair.
This weekend, during the Vision Smart City - Experience future mobility event in Stuttgart, Volocopter flew for the first time on European skies, including over the Mercedes-Benz HQ as a preview of the things to come in the not so distant future and as a means to get people accustomed to that reality.
"Our Volocopter air taxis open up a completely new dimension in urban mobility. As Stuttgart has seen today, they fly safely, quietly and are fast approaching the implementation stage,” said the company’s CEO Florian Reuter.
“Volocopter air taxis are able to ease traffic congestion in major cities around the world, also here in Germany."
Volocopter is now working on a single product. It is called VoloCIty and is poised to become a reality in the not-so-distant future.
Capable of carrying two passengers and their hand luggage, the machine is powered by nine battery packs and no less than 18 brushless DC electric motors. They should be punchy enough to give the VoloCity a range of 35 km (22 miles) at a top speed of 110 kph (68 mph).
There is no exact date on when the air taxis will be implemented.
Volocopter is a German-based group that seeks to "lead the way in building up the ecosystem surrounding urban air mobility." Just like everyone else is trying to do, to be fair.
This weekend, during the Vision Smart City - Experience future mobility event in Stuttgart, Volocopter flew for the first time on European skies, including over the Mercedes-Benz HQ as a preview of the things to come in the not so distant future and as a means to get people accustomed to that reality.
"Our Volocopter air taxis open up a completely new dimension in urban mobility. As Stuttgart has seen today, they fly safely, quietly and are fast approaching the implementation stage,” said the company’s CEO Florian Reuter.
“Volocopter air taxis are able to ease traffic congestion in major cities around the world, also here in Germany."
Volocopter is now working on a single product. It is called VoloCIty and is poised to become a reality in the not-so-distant future.
Capable of carrying two passengers and their hand luggage, the machine is powered by nine battery packs and no less than 18 brushless DC electric motors. They should be punchy enough to give the VoloCity a range of 35 km (22 miles) at a top speed of 110 kph (68 mph).
There is no exact date on when the air taxis will be implemented.
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