Volkswagen’s time to fly. The manufacturer, through its Chinese subsidiary, begins testing its first fully electric transport drone. Swipe for more details.
Volkswagen aims high… literally speaking. Yes, it is true that that future dominated by flying vehicles that in the last century was projected in movies and in the collective imagination today is not such. That said, the German manufacturer is ready to scuttle lost time -or at least that scenario that was believed to be reality today- and has got down to work with its first flyer.
This is the program called V.MO Prototype 001in charge of the division Volkswagen Group Chinaand is popularly known by the flying tiger due to the commemoration of the year of the tiger in the Asian giant. Technically, this eVTOL (electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing) announced in 2020 and today materialized, is an automated electric drone for passengers. That is, without a human driver.
At the moment, the V.MO is only a prototype with a capacity of up to four occupants that will begin its first test flights during the remainder of 2022. 11.2 meters long, with eight rotors and two motors, this unprecedented aircraft has a purely electrical mechanics and has a autonomy of up to 200 kilometers.
As China is the country that currently shows the most promise in terms of the development of transport drones -or flying taxis- it is no coincidence that this market is the one chosen by Volkswagen to continue the project over the next season, to present a version evolved by the end of 2023 and begin evaluating future dates for its commissioning.
The e-VOL is not an isolated case at Volkswagen. The firm is going through 2022 with launches that make people talk, such as the reappearance of its Combi. That classic Type 2 that conquered the American continent in particular since 1962, now returns as ID.Buzz, a new electric model whose details you will find in this link.