Volocopter demonstrates its Electric Air Taxi in Stuttgart

The flight is a highlight of the two-day event “Vision Smart City – Experience the mobility of the future today”.

The Minister-President of the state of Baden-Württemberg, Winfried
Kretschmann, experienced the first European urban flight of the
Volocopter in Stuttgart together with the Chairman of the Board of
Management of Daimler AG, Ola Källenius, the CEO of Volocopter GmbH,
Florian Reuter, and Thomas Strobl, Minister of the Interior,
Digitalisation and Migration for Baden-Württemberg.

At the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart technical innovations and sustainable transport concepts for future mobility are being presented. These include for example concepts of carsharing and electric vehicles. Besides Daimler and Lab 1886, Daimler´s innovation lab, the state of Baden-Württemberg is present at the event with numerous exhibits and information booths, as part of the “Strategic Dialogue for the Automotive Sector in Baden-Württemberg”, to demonstrate to the public in a tangible and accessible way the versatile future mobility developments made in Baden-Württemberg.

Ola Källenius, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars said: “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.”

Winfried Kretschmann, Minister-President of the state of Baden-Württemberg said: “I am very pleased that “Vision Smart City” shows us future mobility ideas that are already being developed in Baden-Württemberg - concepts for sustainable cities of the future, for autonomous driving and the intelligent interaction between different mobility concepts. I am particularly proud that the “Strategic Dialogue for the Automotive Sector in Baden-Württemberg” is present at the event. This dialogue between industry, science, trade unions and politics shows, that climate protection and sustainable employment is possible at the same time.”

Florian Reuter, CEO of Volocopter GmbH said: “Our Volocopter air taxis open up a completely new dimension in urban mobility. 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.”

Thomas Strobl, Deputy Minister President and Minister of the Interior, Digitalisation and Migration for Baden-Württemberg: “The mobility of the future must be intelligent, digital and clean, while remaining affordable. The transport concepts of major cities, medium-size towns and rural areas will certainly take different forms. There will be no universal blueprint. But we are already actively, innovatively and creatively working on mobility concepts for the future. We are the innovation region No. 1 in Europe - as demonstrated by the flight of the Volocopter and other projects presented at the event. The aim is to roll these out, and also to use the innovative strength of the municipalities.”

The event is part of an initiative of a research project by the Technical University of Stuttgart to examine the social acceptance of air taxis.