Stuttgart in Germany has witnessed a test run of “flying taxis” developed by Volocopter, a partner of Daimler Benz.
The test run of the Volocity, which has 18 battery powered rotors was the highlight of a two-day event tagged “Vision Smart City – Experience future mobility today”, with presentation of technical innovations and sustainable transport concepts for future mobility.
The event held at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart
The Volocity can carry two passengers up to 35 km (22 miles), at speeds of up to 110 kph.
The Volocity in the air
Florian Reuter, CEO of Volocopter GmbH said: “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. Volocopter air taxis are able to ease traffic congestion in major cities around the world, also here in Germany.”
Ola Källenius, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars: “Our partner Volocopter shows how an air taxi is turning the dream of driving into the dream of flying. At Daimler we work on the mobility of the future too. The road to climate-neutral mobility is a joint effort of companies and politics.”
Winfried Kretschmann, Minister-President of the German state of Baden-Württemberg: “I am very pleased that “Vision Smart City” shows us future mobility ideas that are already being developed in Baden-Württemberg – concepts for sustainable cities of the future, for autonomous driving and the intelligent interaction of different mobility concepts. I am particularly proud that the “Strategic Dialogue for the Automotive Sector in Baden-Württemberg” is present at the event. This dialogue between industry, science, trade unions and politics shows, that climate protection and sustainable employment is possible at the same time.”
The Minister-President of the state of Baden-Württemberg, Winfried Kretschmann, experienced the first European urban flight of the Volocopter in Stuttgart together with the Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG, Ola Källenius, the CEO of Volocopter GmbH, Florian Reuter, and Thomas Strobl, Minister of the Interior, Digitalisation and Migration for Baden-Württemberg.
Volocopter GmbH is a German aircraft manufacturer based in Bruchsal and founded by Alexander Zosel and Stephan Wolf. The company specializes in the design of electric multirotor helicopters in the form of ready-to-fly aircraft, designed for air taxi use. The CEO is Florian Reuter and chairman Lukasz Gadowsk.
