INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
company that owns Volvo, Lotus and a number of other car brands
There are also plans for another significant tranche of money underway, likely to be closed later this year.In this latest round, Geely is
investing alongside other unnamed new and existing investors in the Bruchsal, Germany-based company
CFO, said in an interview that the German company intends to use the funding to continue working on its taxi R-D; meeting safety and other
regulatory requirements for its small taxi vessels (which seat two); working other upcoming models such as those that can transport cargo;
and business development around commercial launches.Indeed, part of this latest investment is paving the way for future business: Geely and
likes of Lilium, Kitty Hawk, eHang, Uber, and many others building completely new styles of aircraft and hoping to play a role in offering
short-range flights as an affordable alternative to road-based transportation
(Blade, an airtaxi service of sorts, is offering more conventional helicopters and other vessels in its limited launch for
also recall when Intel brought the Volocopter on stage at CES in Las Vegas in 2018 for a flight demonstration during its keynote, still the
up in the air, but Griemens said that while Volocopter would own the aircraft, it would likely partner with local operators to help run the
The average price of each aircraft, he noted, may be akin to a small helicopter, but operations would likely be one-fifth to one-quarter of
While initial rides would be expensive, between five and 10 years, they estimate the price would come down to the cost of a taxi ride on the
That could be somewhere in its home market of Germany, or Helsinki, but just as equally London, where the company has been engaging with
city officials on what an airtaxi service could look like
transportation and travel.)But even with regulatory frameworks in place, delays can come in many forms
Volocopter represent a credible version of the future of transportation, so for companies like Geely, Daimler and Intel, which still have
large legacy businesses, investing in and working with Volocopter gives them a shot at playing a key role (and having a financial stake) in
