Europe’s largest carmaker said in a statement on Tuesday that ‘vertical mobility’ could be the next step towards self-driving technology. ‘That’s why we explore potential concepts and partners in a feasibility study [in China] to identify the possibility of industrializing this approach, ”he added.
China is the largest car market in the world and is also Volkswagen’s largest single customer. The news comes as the German carmaker puts a lot of pressure on electric cars. It delivered more than three times as much battery-powered vehicles last year as in 2019, while plug-in hybrid deliveries rose 175% to 190,500 units.
But ‘vertical mobility’ causes far more obstacles than electric mobility, including safety and reliability. Flying vehicles will have to operate in a crowded airspace, close to small drones and traditional aircraft, and will also require a regulatory framework that can last for years.
In an interview posted on LinkedIn on Tuesday, Volkswagen China CEO Stephan Wöllenstein told Volkswagen chairman Herbert Diess that the company also plans to develop a drone that can be licensed. place in the air and not on the street. ‘
Volkswagen joins a growing list of companies exploring the potential of flying vehicles. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last month, Uber (UBER) and Hyundai (HYMTF) plans unveiled for an electric flying taxi.
Meanwhile, companies such as Porsche (POAHF), Daimler (DDAIF) and Toyota (TM) supported all the start-ups in the so-called eVTOL industry (vertical takeoff and landing).
In September, the Japanese company Sky Drive Inc. the first public demonstration of a flying vehicle done in Japan. And the German Lilium, which is also developing an eVTOL aircraft, announced its first US center near Orlando, Florida, in November.
—- Matt McFarland contributed reportg.