During the recent Amsterdam Drone Week event, Audi, Airbus and design and engineering firm Italdesign presented a flying car prototype called the Pop.Up Next. The concept combines a self-driving EV with a passenger drone, and features a passenger capsule that can be removed from its wheels and picked up by the flying drone.

The prototype was demonstrated with a 1:4 scale model, but Audi said its customers may very well see the service available in big cities within the next ten years.

“Flying taxis are on the way. We at Audi are convinced of that,” said Audi Board Member Dr. Bernd Martens. “More and more people are moving to cities. And more and more people will be mobile thanks to automation. In future, senior citizens, children, and people without a driver’s license will want to use convenient robot taxis. If we succeed in making a smart allocation of traffic between roads and airspace, people and cities can benefit in equal measure.”

Source: Audi