Volkswagen presents its air taxi prototype in China
By the summer of 2023, the subsidiary of the German group, which will continue the test phases throughout 2022, wants to optimize this machine.
End of traffic jam soon? While taxis and VTCs face stiff competition on the ground, new machines could soon see the light of day. It is the ambition of Volkswagen, which presented its first prototype of a flying car through its subsidiary in China. A kind of giant drone that can be summed up in a very technical term: “V.MO”. The German company unhesitatingly dubbed this new technology “Flying Tiger,” which takes off and lands vertically like a helicopter. In a press release, Volkswagen also promises autonomous driving and an emission-free means of transport.
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“Our long-term goal is to industrialize this concept and innovate in this new market (…). develop”, refers to the automobile company. With one goal: to carry out tests throughout 2022 until summer 2023 in order to put these cars into service in the following months. According to Volkswagen, these electric vehicles should be able to transport four people and drive a maximum of 200 km. These cars are “Called to play an important role in the future of urban and intercity transport”above all “in crowded megacities”. Whether in Asia or even in the USA.
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Even if these machines see the light of day in a few months, they will not be democratized because of that. Volkswagen wants a product “High-end for tech-savvy wealthy Chinese customers”. The automotive subsidiary in China must now work with the country’s authorities to obtain validation as soon as possible. In recent months, several car brands such as Hondo, Audi and Suzuki have positioned themselves in the field of air transport. Airbus and Boeing also entered the race. In France, it was the French engineer Franky Zapata who inaugurated the “Jet Racer”a “flying car” with a vertical start and a speed of up to 250 km/h.
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