Porsche Also Wants to Make Flying Cars
Porsche isn’t letting Audi have the spotlight, especially when it comes to flying cars.
Although the two companies both fall under the Volkswagen Group, they’ve always had a friendly rivalry, especially when it comes to Le Mans. And now it appears Audi’s collaboration with Italdesign and Airbus on flying cars has Porsche intrigued.
The sports car maker is in the early stages of designing a blueprint of a flying taxi, saying that it believes “three-dimensional mobility” is the way of the future. “There’s another dimension out there that is completely empty without any traffic jams,” said Porsche sales chief Detlev von Platen. “So why shouldn’t we develop something in this direction?”
The company expects it will take up to 10 years to finalize the technology before it can launch a flying car in real traffic.
SEE ALSO: Audi Unveils the Latest Version of its Flying Car Concept
Recently at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show, Audi, Italdesign, and Airbus unveiled the latest version of their flying car concept called the Pop.Up Next (seen above). Mercedes-Benz’s owner, Daimler, has also expressed interest in flying cars by investing in Germany’s Volocopter, which is developing a five-seater electric flying taxi.
China’s Geely, which owns Volvo and Lotus, also acquired U.S.-based Terrafugia and is expecting to deliver a flying car to the market next year.
[Source: Automotive News Europe]
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Jason Siu began his career in automotive journalism in 2003 with Modified Magazine, a property previously held by VerticalScope. As the West Coast Editor, he played a pivotal role while also extending his expertise to Modified Luxury & Exotics and Modified Mustangs. Beyond his editorial work, Jason authored two notable Cartech books. His tenure at AutoGuide.com saw him immersed in the daily news cycle, yet his passion for hands-on evaluation led him to focus on testing and product reviews, offering well-rounded recommendations to AutoGuide readers. Currently, as the Content Director for VerticalScope, Jason spearheads the content strategy for an array of online publications, a role that has him at the helm of ensuring quality and consistency across the board.
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So traffic jams in 3 dimensions are soon forthcoming. Ships on oceans still manage to collide. Autonomous flying taxis are far beyond the world's ability to manage the airspace even without the added joys of increased levels of adverse hacking. I'll pass, thank you very much. And Porsche wanting to develop aircraft taxis is a sacrilege! LOL
I don't care, i don't like the idea of flying cars, a car is not a car if it flies.