Flying Taxi Concept

Although still just a 1:4 scale model, the prototype of 'Pop.Up Next' presented at Drone Week in Amsterdam by Audi and partners Airbus and Italdesign, points to a high flying future for public transport and personal mobility.

The concept for a flying taxi combines a self-driving electric car with a passenger drone and in its first public test flight, the flight module accurately placed a passenger capsule on the ground module, which then drove from the test grounds autonomously. 

It’s a quantum leap in the development of airborne transportation and could mean that as early as next decade, Audi customers could use a convenient and efficient flying taxi service in large cities – in multi-modal operation, in the air and on the road.

“Flying taxis are on the way. We at Audi are convinced of that,” says Dr Bernd Martens, Audi board member for sourcing and IT, and president of the Audi subsidiary Italdesign. 

“If we succeed in making a smart allocation of traffic between roads and airspace, people and cities can benefit in equal measure.”

But while this is still a way off, Audi is conducting testing to see exactly what an on-demand service of this type might look like and what would customers want and expect from such a service. To this end, Audi is currently conducting tests in South America with the Airbus subsidiary Voom, where customers book helicopter flights in Mexico City or Sao Paulo, while an Audi is at the ready for the journey to or from the landing site.

“Services like this help us to understand our customers’ needs better. Because in the future, flying taxis will appeal to a wide range of city dwellers. With Pop.Up Next we are simultaneously exploring the boundaries of what is technically possible. The next step is for a full-size prototype to fly and drive,” said Dr Martens.

Audi is also supporting the Urban Air Mobility flying taxi project in Ingolstadt, preparing test operations for a flying taxi at Audi’s site.