Airbus Reveals Its Flying Drone Car Concept At Geneva Motor Show And It’s Amazing

One of the highlights of the Geneva Motor Show happened to be Airbus’ Project Vahana concept. Is it a car? Is it a flying drone? Or is it both?

During the ongoing 87th Geneva International Motor Show, Airbus in collaboration with Italdesign took the wraps off Pop.Up -- the first of its kind modular, fully electric, zero emission concept vehicle system designed to relieve traffic congestion in crowded megacities. Yes, it can plough the road as well as take to the skies!

This announcement is in line with our expectations of Airbus testing its futuristic flying-taxi concept later this year. Airbus’ Pop.Up envisages a modular system where the concept car can run on the road as well as fly in the sky, with the help of attachable drone-like wings. And this is what’s going to solve the menace of traffic jams and stressful commute all over the world.

If you think rush hour traffic is unbearable today, the problem will only grow worse. Airbus estimates that by 2030, 60% of the world’s population will live in cities, which is 10% more than today. Imagine all the traffic chaos we’re in for. Yikes!

One look at the Airbus concept car, and you can’t miss its sci-fi inspiration, but in terms of usage the flying drone car couldn’t be more convenient and practical. The main vehicle (presumably designed by Italdesign?) comprises of a passenger capsule which holds two passengers, not unlike a golf buggy, and that car pod is extremely versatile.

It can attach itself to a chassis of wheels to become a land-based car, it can itself to a quadcopter with rotors on top to become an autonomous, flying drone, and it’s also compatible with future Hyperloop systems, according to Airbus. Commuters can hail these flying drones through a smartphone app (not unlike an Ola or Uber) to fly from one place to another!

Just imagine the possibilities of that for a second. You transition from a self-driving car on the road to a flying drone to riding on a train -- all of this without leaving the car module. That’s simply insane!

But that’s essentially what Airbus’ vision is, and according to their Project Vahana timeline, they’re scheduled to make a final production-grade version of Pop.Up -- the autonomous flying urban taxi -- for short, intra-city trips available by 2021.

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