Volocopter to launch air taxi infrastructure for cities within ten years

Volocopter has unveiled its vision for an air taxi infrastructure for cities which it claims could integrate into transportation systems and provide mobility for up to 10,000 passengers per day. The company expects the technology to be available within the next ten years. The firm says that the electrically-powered aircraft are emission-free and take off and land vertically to maintain safety. Volocopters are based on drone technology and can carry two people over distances of 27km. For the infrastructu
April 27, 2018 Read time: 1 min

8772 Volocopter has unveiled its vision for an air taxi infrastructure for cities which it claims could integrate into transportation systems and provide mobility for up to 10,000 passengers per day. The company expects the technology to be available within the next ten years.

The firm says that the electrically-powered aircraft are emission-free and take off and land vertically to maintain safety. Volocopters are based on drone technology and can carry two people over distances of 27km.

For the infrastructure, the firm proposes that areas it calls ‘Volo-Hubs’ could allow the air taxis to land and take off every 30 seconds. Once inside, battery packs will be exchanged automatically in a protected area by robots before moving on to the section where passengers embark for take-off. In addition, the hubs could offer space to park all Volocopters in operation.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • ‘Free’ power for signs, shelters and so much more
    March 17, 2016
    David Crawford looks at the sunny side of the street. Solar power has been relatively slow in entering the transport sector, but a current blossoming of activity bodes well for the large-scale harnessing of an alternative energy that is zero-emission at source and, in practical terms, infinitely renewable. Traffic management and traveller information systems, and actual vehicles, are all emerging as areas for deployment. Meanwhile roads themselves are being viewed as new-style, fossil fuel-free ‘power stati
    Read More
  • MaaS transit does Dallas
    October 22, 2018
    What started five years ago as a mobile ticketing app is evolving towards a full MaaS offering for the US city of Dallas, Texas. Colin Sowman finds out why and how. When it was launched in September 2013, GoPass was the first multimodal, multi-agency transit fare payment app in the US. Introduced by the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (Dart), GoPass combines a mobile ticketing app with a trip planning function and it is also accepted by Trinity Railway Express, Trinity Metro and the Denton County Transportation
    Read More
  • Carrots are proving cost-effective in Netherlands
    October 3, 2018
    There are lessons to be learned from congestion avoidance schemes in the Netherlands. David Crawford welcomes some new thinking in road pricing. Highway operators worldwide are being urged to learn from Dutch experience in using financial carrots rather than sticks to encourage drivers to avoid contributing to congestion. A Netherlands/UK group makes a convincing cost/benefit case in a new global survey of road pricing technologies, economics and acceptability. Representing the Rijkswaterstaat section of
    Read More
  • Gothenburg’s year of congestion charging
    April 9, 2014
    A year after it went live, Colin Sowman examines the technology used for Gothenburg’s congestion charging system and the effect the scheme has had on commuters. When it comes to long-term planning, the Scandinavians take some beating.The West Swedish Agreement is a case in point. Introduced in 2009, the Agreement runs through to around 2027 and aims to create an attractive, sustainable and growing region, and over that timescale the number of journeys is expected to increase by a third. Therefore the Agreem
    Read More

Highlighted Content