Is the world a step closer to flying cars?
While big-name companies all over the world are looking seriously at airborne city transport, others see this as a mere dream
You’re running late. The city is gridlocked thanks to the peak hour traffic and you are in danger of missing your appointment. You quickly open an app on your smartphone and hop into a nearby pod. Soon a giant drone-like machine descends from the sky and clips onto the carbon fibre and glass bubble that surrounds you, pulling you up into the air. You fly high above the city’s traffic. As you near your destination, your app locates a free wheel base, enabling you to descend and dock. The drone breaks away and your new wheels start turning, transforming your pod into an autonomous (driverless) car for the rest of your journey. Hollywood has, for years, fed us tales of flying DeLoreans, space taxis and the Jetsons’ flying family bubble cars. Now it seems the race is on to make those dreams a reality. The scene described above is exactly how Airbus SE and Volkswagen’s Audi unit’s "Pop.Up Next" will work. The drone-like flying taxi/electric city car combo was unveiled at the Geneva Motor...
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