Chinese automaker Geely is aiming to launch a flying car in the Chinese market by 2024, built by its subsidiary Aerofugia and German company Volocopter, according to Jing Chao, CEO of Aerofugia.
The flying car will be jointly operated in the Chinese market by a joint venture to be established between Aerofugia and Volocopter, a German urban air travel company. The company will be owned by Aerofugiaand will focus on the development of urban air transportation in China, according to Jing in an interview with The Paper.
The Volocopter is scheduled to obtain the EASA certificate of airworthiness in 2023, after which it will be commercialized and marketed in Europe.
At the same time, the product's airworthiness certification in China will be completed, and the Volocopter product will be ready to be officially launched in China, Jing said.
At present, the development of the product has been basically completed, the relevant certification work has started, and relevant operators have contacted the company to discuss future operation cooperation, Jing said.
As the product is a passenger-carrying aircraft, its safety is consistent with that of civil airliners, Jing said.
The Volocopter product has 18 rotors, and the propellers and flight control system have sufficient redundancy so that even if something goes wrong with some rotors, the whole vehicle can still operate safely, which is quite different from helicopters.
Jing is very confident about the future market of the flying car product and believes that the product will be profitable in a short period of time after it is launched in the market.
Aerofugiawas established on September 15, 2020, and currently operates two brands, "AOSSCI" and "Terrafugia", for the development, production, and operation of various types of drones and flying cars, providing a total solution for the new cross-border ecology of aviation.
Volocopter was founded in 2011 and flew the world's first air cab in Dubai in 2017. In September 2019, Volocopter announced the completion of a Series C financing round of 50 million euros, led by Geely Holding Group, with participation from Daimler AG and a 10% stake from each side.
When Geely Holding Group invested in Volocopter in 2019, it had already planned to set up a joint venture with Volocopter in China to be responsible for the production and operation of Volocopter products in China.
It is worth mentioning that before investing in Volocopter, Geely had already laid out in the field of air travel business. As early as 2017, Geely acquired the entire business and assets of US-based Terrafugia.
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