Combining a driver-less electric car and a drone that can carry passengers, German luxury carmaker Audi, European aircraft manufacturer Airbus and Italian design and engineering firm Italdesign have developed a flying car.
The innovative 'Pop.Up Next' transportation system was demonstrated at recent Amsterdam Drone Week conference. Flying taxis are the future, said Dr. Bernd Martens, Audi board member for sourcing and IT, and president of the Audi subsidiary Italdesign. "We at Audi have no doubts about it," he added.
In the first public test flight, the flight module accurately placed a passenger capsule on the ground module, after which it drove from the test grounds autonomously. The demo vehicle was a 1:4 scale model.
Airbus subsidiary Voom in partnering in tests that are conducted in South America. Audi is also supporting the urban mobility flying taxi project at Ingolstadt in Germany.
