Volkswagen presented its first electric passenger transport drone

The future of the automotive industry lies in electric mobility. This has motivated the incursion of the big car manufacturers to explore this new path.

In China, Volkswagen presented the prototype of what will be its first drone for passenger transport. The specimen is designed for use in the city and has the ability to take off and land vertically.

Volkswagen presented its passenger drone in China

In 2020, the Chinese subsidiary of Volkswagen launched a research and development project focused on vertical, electric and autonomous mobility solutions. Under the aegis of this initiative, the first model of this class developed by the company emerged: the Volkswagen VMO.

The vehicle presented is an aircraft 11.2 meters long and 10.6 meters wide, with flight rotors for vertical lift and two propellers for horizontal flight. Its operation is totally electric and it has the ability to take off and land vertically. For its movement on the surface, it has helicopter-style skates instead of wheels.

The Volkswagen VMO, or “Flying Tiger”, as the team baptized it after the project, is still in the prototype stage. Once serial copies are produced, it will be able to transport four passengers and their respective luggage, over distances of up to 200 kilometres.

eVTOL taxis, those that are electric and have the ability to take off and land horizontally, are examples that are emerging as an alternative for the operation of electric taxis in the cities of the future.

Volkswagen’s interest in developing this project in China lies in the fact that the Asian giant will be a great market for vehicles like this, since its territory has more than 160 cities with a population of over one million inhabitants.

Due to the associated costs, it is estimated that access to these vehicles will be a luxury, whose target audience, at least in the first instance, is “high-profile” people who want to move from building to building, avoiding surface traffic.

In order to serve this market niche in China, the Volkswagen group plans to carry out several flight tests later this year, with the idea of ​​optimizing the concept. Then at the end of 2023 this drone will go through more rigorous flight tests.

In addition to the technical tests, Volkswagen is working on obtaining the relevant certifications in China to make this project a concrete initiative and not just an advertising prototype.

Under the company’s projections, we could see in a few more years the first “flying cars” of Volkswagen in China.