Porsche enters flying car race – with Boeing

Porsche is the latest car-maker to throw its hat into the emerging flying car arena, announcing a partnership with Boeing to create a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) vehicle.

The German sports car manufacturer says it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the US aircraft maker to target the emerging premium urban air mobility market – essentially autonomous electric flying taxis to ferry passengers around big cities.

Boeing, Porsche and Aurora Flight Sciences, a subsidiary of Boeing, are developing a concept for a fully electric VTOL and engineers from both companies will implement and test a prototype designed by Porsche.

The companies say they will “leverage their unique market strengths and insights to study the future of premium urban air mobility vehicles” and the expansion of urban traffic into airspace.

As part of the partnership, the companies say they will create an international team to address various aspects of urban air mobility, including analysis of the market potential for premium vehicles and possible use cases.

“Porsche is looking to enhance its scope as a sports car manufacturer by becoming a leading brand for premium mobility. In the longer term, this could mean moving into the third dimension of travel,” said Detlev von Platen, Member of the Executive Board for Sales and Marketing at Porsche AG.

“We are combining the strengths of two leading global companies to address a potential key market segment of the future.”

A 2018 study by Porsche Consulting forecasts the growth of the urban air mobility market to increase beyond 2025 and indicates that “urban air mobility solutions will transport passengers more quickly and efficiently than current conventional means of terrestrial transport, at a lower cost and with greater flexibility”.

“This collaboration builds on our efforts to develop a safe and efficient new mobility ecosystem, and provides an opportunity to investigate the development of a premium urban air mobility vehicle with a leading automotive brand,” said Steve Nordlund, Vice President and General Manager Boeing NeXt, a foundation designed to establish “a next-generation mobility ecosystem in which autonomous and piloted vehicles can safely coexist”.

“Porsche and Boeing together bring precision engineering, style and innovation to accelerate urban air mobility worldwide.”

Before Porsche, Hyundai was the last car-maker to announce plans to enter the flying car market – with help from NASA. Others include Toyota, Audi, Mercedes-Benz and Geely, plus a range of others including Airbus, Google and Uber, which has promised to operate airborne robotaxis in Melbourne from 2020.