Aston Martin is seeking to enter the private flying vehicle race with an autonomous electrified aircraft — previewed by the Volante Vision Concept — that could take to skies in 2020.
Produced in collaboration with Cranfield Universtiy, Cranfield Aerospace Solutions and Rolls-Royce, the luxury three-seat craft can take off vertically thanks to a set of rotor blades that can alter their angle.
Although it is very much a design concept, Autocar understands that Aston intends to send a prototype to the skies in about two years, meaning the concept provides a glimpse of how Aston’s first flying production model could look.
Described by Aston as a “hybrid-electric vehicle for urban and inter-city air travel”, it has a futuristic, sleek look that has been crafted in-house. Design chief Marek Reichman said the craft comes “at the beginning of a new generation of urban transportation” where “vertical mobility is no longer a fantasy”.
Cranfield University and Cranfield Aerospace Solutions have handled much of the vehicle’s technical development, while Rolls-Royce has provided its hybrid power source, the details of which have been kept secret for now.
It’s possible that the Volante Vision Concept could use a combination of jet and electric power like the short-haul jet concept recently produced by Rolls-Royce, Airbus and Siemens. That craft uses two electric motors and two turbo fan jet engines, enabling significant reductions in fuel usage and emissions.
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Hmmm...
Did anybody actually think about how the passengers would get in and out of the thing?
100 years out....?!
2020.....?, it’s a Toy at best, I suppose we’ve got to start somewhere?, but these “Flying Cars” aren’t going to be on our driveway on the next 10,20,maybe 50 yrs or more, there are too many hurdles to jump, do you need a Pilots licence?, how much will it cost to learn?and how long to learn?, there’s three barriers to this fanciful notion we’ll be like the Jetsons..!