It’s developed together with Italdesign
Geneva wasn't just a catwalk for electric hypercars but also ambitious concepts that might change mobility as we know it. Airbus' Pop.Up flying car is one of them.
Developed in cooperation with Italdesign, Pop.Up is "the first modular, fully electric, zero emission concept vehicle system designed to relieve traffic congestion in crowded megacities."
Besides the concept itself, Airbus and Italdesign came up with a framework wrapped up around three layers.
Firstly, an AI (Artificial Intelligence) platform based on user knowledge will act like the brain that oversees the routes just like an air traffic controller.
The second pillar is the vehicle itself, featuring a passenger capsule connected to electric-propelled modules. Airbus also claims that other conventional means of public transport – such as trains – can integrate the Pop.Up capsule.
Thirdly, a virtual interface serves the interaction between user and vehicle.
Offered in two-seat configuration and powered by batteries, the Pop.Up relies on a monocoque carbon fiber cocoon (2.6 meters long, 1.4 meters high, and 1.5 meters wide) to shelter the passengers.
When the traffic situation doesn't improve, "the capsule disconnects from the ground module and is carried by a 5×4.4-meter air module propelled by eight counter-rotating rotors."
An app will solve the summoning and trip booking part, while the system does the route calculations depending on traffic flow, costs and demand at that moment.
However, with the options poll growing by the month in this unexplored field of self-flying cars, just like in the case of autonomous driving, one must ask: are we ready for it?