A working scale model of Pop.Up Next, a prototype designed by Audi, Airbus and Italdesign, drives away from the air module, rear, after landing during a presentation at the Amsterdam Drone Week in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2018. The two-seater vehicle combines ground transportation with vertical take-off and landing capabilities. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
The Associated Press
AMSTERDAM (AP) - A scale model of a flying drone-car mashup has driven and hovered across an Amsterdam exhibition hall, providing a glimpse of what could be the future of urban mobility.
The "Pop.Up Next" prototype drone, being developed by aviation giant Airbus, automaker Audi and Italdesign design house is made up of three separate modules - a chassis with wheels, a two-seat capsule for passengers and a four-rotor drone. The concept has been shown before, but a one-quarter size scale model made its maiden public flight Tuesday at the Amsterdam Drone Week convention.
Just don't plan on hailing such an airborne ride any time soon. Airbus executive Jean Brice Demont estimates it will take more than a decade for a large-scale rollout of such a service.
The two-seater capsule of a working scale model of Pop.Up Next, a prototype designed by Audi, Airbus and Italdesign, is transported by the air module during a demonstration at the Amsterdam Drone Week in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2018. The vehicle combines combines ground transportation with vertical take-off and landing capabilities. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
The Associated Press
The ground module of a working scale model of Pop.Up Next, a prototype designed by Audi, Airbus and Italdesign, drives away from the air module, center, after docking the two-seater capsule during a presentation at the Amsterdam Drone Week in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2018. The two-seater vehicle combines ground transportation with vertical take-off and landing capabilities. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
The Associated Press
An Airbus passenger drone and Pop.Up Next, rear, a prototype designed by Audi, Airbus and Italdesign is displayed at the Amsterdam Drone Week in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2018. The Pop.Up Next, a two-seater vehicle, combines combines ground transportation with vertical take-off and landing. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
The Associated Press
Pop.Up Next, a prototype designed by Audi, Airbus and Italdesign is displayed at the Amsterdam Drone Week in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2018. The two-seater vehicle combines combines ground transportation with vertical take-off and landing capabilities. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
The Associated Press