WTF is Audi Making a Flying Car Concept For?

While most automakers have their eyes fixed on the near future of autonomous cars, Audi is looking farther ahead still.

The dream of the Jetsons is nearly here as Audi, ItalDesign, and Airbus have gotten together to design a flying car concept.

“In the distant future this vehicle could transport people in cities quickly and conveniently on the road and in the air, at the same time solving traffic problems,” writes Audi in a press release.

The vehicle itself is an ultra-light, two-seater, which actually sounds pretty good. This, though, is attached to a detachable quadcopter that can pick the pod up, leaving the wheels behind.

[See image gallery at www.vwvortex.com]

Naturally, having fallible humans hurtling around through the skies would take too much training to be a feasible solution for “traffic problems,” so Audi views its potential role in this conceptual thought experiment as the team leader in automation and battery technology.

That means that you would control this by talking, touching a screen, or the car could track your eyes.

Although it’s a little silly, it is still kind of cool and the autonomous wheels and copter are a pretty clever solution to the weight and size issues that they posed in the past.

“Creativity is needed where new mobility concepts for cities and people’s diverse needs are concerned. Italdesign is an incubator for innovative technologies and radical prototyping,” says Dr. Bernd Martens, Audi Board Member. “Pop.Up Next is an ambitious vision that could permanently change our urban life in the future.”

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