Volocopter’s flight was the highlight of Vision Smart City 

Mercedes-Benz hosted the event at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, Germany. Vision Smart City was hosted in order to feature technical innovations and sustainable transport concepts for future mobility, including concepts of carsharing and electric vehicles, according to the official Volocopter press release. The event is also part of an initiative of a research project by the Technical University of Stuttgart to examine the social acceptance of air taxis. Headlining the event was Volocopter’s first urban flight of their dynamic eVTOL, which can be seen here. 

Exclusive in front of the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart: first successful urban flight of the Volocopter in Europe.
© Daimler AG

Mercedes-Benz, a partner of Volocopter, was also impressed by the showcase. According to Ola Källenius, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars,  “Our partner Volocopter shows how an air taxi is turning the dream of driving into the dream of flying. At Daimler we work on the mobility of the future too. By 2022 we will have electrified the entire Mercedes-Benz portfolio. Our goal is that electrically powered cars will account for more than half of our sales by 2030. The road to climate-neutral mobility is a joint effort of companies and politics. We at Daimler a willing and ready to make our contribution.”  

Thomas Strobl, Minister of the Interior, Digitization and Migration of the State of Baden-Württemberg, Ola Källenius, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars, Winfried Kretschmann, Prime Minister of the State of Baden-Württemberg, and Florian Reuter, Managing Director of Volocopter GmbH at the Event “Vision Smart City – Experiencing the mobility of the future today” in front of a model of the air taxi. (Left)
© Daimler AG

Volocopter has consistently been one of the companies furthest along in the urban air mobility industry, now working on efforts to introduce eVTOL-specific infrastructure to several key urban cities, and have also previously finished a EUR 50 million funding round this month. Florian Reuter, CEO of Volocopter GmbH, has been excited at the strides that Volocopter has been making recently. “Our Volocopter air taxis open up a completely new dimension in urban mobility,” said Reuter,  “As Stuttgart has seen today, they fly safely, quietly and are fast approching the implementation stage. Volocopter air taxis are able to ease traffic congestion in major cities around the world, also here in Germany.”

Learn more about Vision Smart City here

To learn more about Volocopter, read our aircraft page here

Why it’s important: Volocopter has demonstrated not only a successful flight, but a strong relationship with Mercedes-Benz, as the automotive company has gotten increasingly involved with the former. This flight at Stuttgart was the headliner for Mercedes-Benz’s own event, with several key figures in both Mercedes-Benz and local government expressing strong confidence and interest in the future of the commercial urban air mobility market, indicating a promising place in the industry for Volocopter in the future.

Source // Volocopter Press Release

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