Volocopter

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Volocopter GmbH
TypePrivately held company
IndustryAerospace
Founded2011[1]
FounderAlexander Zosel and Stephan Wolf
Headquarters
Bruchsal
,
Germany
Key people
CEO: Florian Reuter, Chairman: Stefan Klocke[2]
ProductsElectric VTOL aircraft
Websitewww.volocopter.com

Volocopter GmbH (formerly called E-Volo GmbH) is a German aircraft manufacturer based in Bruchsal (near Karlsruhe) and founded by Alexander Zosel and Stephan Wolf. The company specializes in the design of electric multirotor helicopters in the form of personal air vehicles, designed for air taxi use.[3][2]

The CEO is Florian Reuter and chairman Stefan Klocke.[2]

History[]

2011 The company flew the Volocopter VC1 and Volocopter VC2 technology demonstrators, followed by the two-seat Volocopter VC200 prototype. The VC1 was first flown on 21 October 2011.[3][2]

Volocopter VC1, the first crewed electric multirotor
Volocopter VC2
Volocopter 2X

2013 The two-seat project that became the Volocopter 2X started in 2013, evolved from early single-seat Volocopter VC2 prototype flown in 2011. The two seat prototype was designated as the VC-200 and the derived production model the 2X.[4][5]

An on-line fundraising effort in 2013 on the Seedmatch website raised €500,000 in 2 hours and 35 minutes, setting a new European Union record. The money was used to build the VC200 prototype.[6]

2018 The aircraft entered serial production in April 2018 and will be built under contract by the German sailplane manufacturer DG Flugzeugbau.[7][8]

2019 On 9 September 2019, Geely, which is also the parent company of Volvo Cars, Terrafugia and Lotus Cars, led a round of funding that raised $55 million in private investments for Volocopter.[9] In September 2020, Volocopter started flying pre-sales promotional trips for Volocity, the company's prospective electric air taxi service.[10]

On 21 October 2019, Volocopter unveiled its "world first air taxi airport", and the company also demonstrated the use of its VoloCity eVTOL aircraft around the Marina Bay vicinity of southern Singapore. The company also conducted a feasibility survey with Singaporean mega ride-hailing company Grab. The demonstration was well-received and supported by the Singapore government. The company worked closely together with various government authorities like MoT, CAAS and EDB to allow test flights for their 'air taxi' service in the area and to fly its first proposed flight route to Sentosa. The demonstration also shed light to promote greater public visibility on the new transportation service to come in the next few years. There was extensive media coverage of the flight testing and the demonstrator vertical airport that built in collaboration with Volocopter within the Marina Bay area in Singapore, and attracted many people to witness the test flight even though the weather was a little gloomy then. The eVTOL prototype airport is called the "". After the demonstration, the prototype was dismantled, and moved for redeployment at subsequent launches. [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]

2021 In January 2021, the company confirmed that the ADAC had reserved two of its VoloCity aircraft for operational testing in 2023.[23]

Also in January 2021, the company announced that the FAA had accepted its application to concurrently validate the EASA type certification it expects secure within the next three years. In the same announcement, the company claimed it was exploring launching Volocity within the United States to provide intra-city air taxi services in major metropolitan areas such as New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington, DC.[24]

Aircraft[]

VoloCity
VoloPort
VoloDrone

Summary of all products designed and built by Volocopter GmbH:

eVTOL aircraft

Vertical take off and landings eVTOL aircraft specialised airport

Drones

Digital products

See also[]

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

Related lists

References[]

  1. ^ "Volocopter". tracxn.com. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d Volocopter GmbH. "Volocopter - Company". www.volocopter.com. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  3. ^ a b Tacke, Willi; Marino Boric; et al: World Directory of Light Aviation 2015-16, page 206. Flying Pages Europe SARL, 2015. ISSN 1368-485X
  4. ^ "Volocopter Two-Seater In Development". AVweb. 22 January 2013. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  5. ^ "E-Volo, Closer To Flying Car Functionality? (With Video)". AVweb. 3 November 2011. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  6. ^ "Volocopter Fund Drive Breaks Records". AVweb. 16 December 2013. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  7. ^ "Volocopter Starts Serial Production". AVweb. 13 April 2018. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  8. ^ "Volocopter Draws 25 Million Euro Investment". AVweb. August 2017. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  9. ^ "Geely invests in flying car startup". Bloomberg. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
  10. ^ "Volocopter kicks off pre-sales for its first air taxi flights — with a wait time of 2-3 years". TechCrunch. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  11. ^ Ong, Alexis (21 November 2019). "The flying taxi future is coming, but it's elitist and underwhelming". The Verge. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  12. ^ Sarsfield2021-04-22T10:54:00+01:00, Kate. "Why urban air mobility projects are skyrocketing". Flight Global. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  13. ^ Alcock, Charles; May 2, 2021. "Vertiport Plans Support Singapore's Case To Be World's First eVTOL Air Taxi Market". FutureFlight. Retrieved 29 June 2021.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ "Volocopter Commits to Launch Air Taxi Services in Singapore". press.volocopter.com. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  15. ^ "Volocopter Commits to Launch Air Taxi Services in Singapore". www.edb.gov.sg. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  16. ^ Ong, Alexis (21 November 2019). "The flying taxi future is coming, but it's elitist and underwhelming". The Verge. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  17. ^ Grab and Volocopter Conduct Feasibility Study for Air Taxis, retrieved 29 June 2021
  18. ^ Volocopter air taxi flies over Singapore's Marina Bay, retrieved 29 June 2021
  19. ^ "Volocopter 2X (defunct)". evtol.news. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  20. ^ "Volocopter introduces Volocopter 2X eVTOL aircraft at Auto Shanghai 2021". www.compositesworld.com. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  21. ^ "Volocopter Commits to Launch Air Taxi Services in Singapore". Volocopter. 9 December 2020. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  22. ^ "Volocopter air taxi flies over Singapore's Marina Bay". press.volocopter.com. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  23. ^ "ADAC Luftrettung Reserves Two Volocopter Multicopters". UASweekly.com. 16 January 2021. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  24. ^ Alcock, Charles. "Volocopter Moves To Enter U.S. eVTOL Air Taxi Market". Aviation International News. Retrieved 23 January 2021.

External links[]

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