HAMBURG: Volkswagen is conducting a feasibility examine in China about flying automobiles, Europe’s greatest automaker mentioned on Tuesday, becoming a member of a rising variety of firms trying into the potential expertise.
“Past autonomous driving the idea of vertical mobility could possibly be a subsequent step to take our mobility strategy into the longer term, particularly within the technically affine Chinese language market,” the German group mentioned in a press release.
“Due to this fact we’re investigating potential ideas and companions in a feasibility examine to determine the chance to industrialize this strategy.”
In an interview with Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess on Linkedin, the carmaker’s China head Stephan Woellenstein mentioned the corporate needed to develop a drone that could possibly be licensed, giving it a option to take part on this future market.
China is the world’s greatest autos market, and likewise accounts for the biggest a part of Volkswagen’s gross sales.
The information comes as firms from start-ups to different international carmakers are racing to develop business “robo-taxis”, hoping to money in on a market Morgan Stanley says could possibly be price $1.5 trillion by 2040.
Along with massive gamers resembling Volkswagen and Airbus , teams together with U.S.-based Joby, Germany’s Lilium, and Volocopter, whose monetary backers embrace Daimler and Intel, are pursuing such plans.
Munich-based Lilium mentioned in November it might arrange its first U.S. hub close to Orlando, placing greater than 20 million Floridians inside vary of its winged electrical plane that may take off vertically and canopy 300 km (185 miles).
