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Europe’s largest automaker said in a statement Tuesday that “vertical mobility” may be the next step after autonomous driving technology. “Therefore, we are studying concepts and potential partners in a feasibility study [in China] to identify the possibility of industrializing this approach, ”he added.
China is the world’s largest automobile market and is also Volkswagen’s biggest customer. The news comes as the German automaker takes a big step forward in electric cars. It delivered more than three times the volume of battery-electric vehicles last year compared to 2019, while deliveries of plug-in hybrids jumped 175% to 190,500 units.
But “vertical mobility” poses many more obstacles than electric mobility, including safety and reliability. Flying vehicles would have to operate in congested airspace, close to small drones and traditional planes, and would also need a regulatory framework, which could take years.
In an interview posted on LinkedIn on Tuesday, Volkswagen China Director Stephan Wöllenstein told Volkswagen Chairman Herbert Diess that the company is also considering developing a drone that could be licensed, which would help it participate in the future. individual mobility market “which takes place in the air and not in the streets.”
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) unveiled plans for an electric flying taxi.
Meanwhile, companies such as Porsche (POAHF), Daimler (I go) and Toyota (TM) have all supported startups in the so-called Electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) industry.
In September, the Japanese company Sky Drive Inc. held the first Japanese public demonstration of a flying vehicle. And the German Lilium, which is also developing an eVTOL aircraft, announced in November its first American hub near Orlando, Florida.
—- Matt McFarland contributed reportingg.
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