Intel, Daimler-backed German startup wants to become Uber of the skies
FRANKFURT: Forget autonomous cars — your next taxi might whiz you across town through the air.
Volocopter GmbH, a German startup backed by Intel Corp and Daimler AG, has built a dronelike electric helicopter to ferry travellers across city skies.
The company expects to offer its first commercial trips in the next three to five years, after completing test flights in Dubai and Las Vegas.
It’s now seeking at least US$100 million (RM397.4 million) to gear up manufacturing of the flying taxis.
Volocopter was in talks with new and current investors to raise the funds “as soon as possible”, said chief executive officer Florian Reuter, sitting inside a sleek white example of the drone parked in downtown Berlin. “We want to be the world’s first commercial air taxi service.”
Raising money is just one facet of the race to conquer local skies.
Multiple aviation and technology companies, from planemaker Boeing Co to a startup backed by Google co-founder Larry Page, are working on aircraft that could be used as robotic taxis, capable of landing on urban rooftops or special pods to pick up passengers who want to avoid traffic.
Another hurdle is convincing regulators it’s a good idea to have these machines travelling over populated areas.
Volocopter says it’s furthest along with the technology and working with regulators — it already has a provisional licence from German aviation authorities and has completed an autonomous flight in Dubai, a city that seeks to make a quarter of its transport autonomous by 2030.
A Volocopter looks like a drone on steroids. It’s a sleek machine with 18 rotors and two seats — either for a pilot and a passenger, or for two travellers in remotecontrolled or autonomous flight mode.
The company claims the drones are so quiet that you can’t hear them over city noise from 100m away.