Combining the spirit of Star Wars, the flash of Guardians of the Galaxy and the style of James Bond, Aston Martin recently revealed what their take on a flying taxi would resemble. Because if you’re Aston Martin, you certainly don’t want to be the last one to unveil a flying taxi prototype/concept.
In all fairness, cities around the globe are becoming more crowded, and non-gasoline-powered vehicles check a number of boxes in building smarter, more sustainable urban areas. So as Aston Martin looks to offer some assistance in meeting these needs, they were sure to bring some of their trademark luxuries into the mix.
Dubbed the Volante Vision, the hybrid-electric aircraft will feature vertical take-off and landing capabilities, with room for three passengers.
Although technical details were not made available, Rolls-Royce has already been tapped to provide the propulsion system. It will also feature autonomous operational technology because some sort of defacto mandate seemingly requires every transportation-related innovation to be driverless in some way.
Getting back to the luxuries and user comforts synonymous with Aston Martin, a wide, high-resolution head-up display replaces a traditional instrument panel. And while this display may not allow for navigating an asteroid field, it will provide data about the vehicle and its surroundings, including speed, distance to the final destination and altitude.
The company is confident that the vehicle will be available within the next decade by leveraging a number of existing technologies. And with the name Aston Martin attached to it, well you’re targeting a tax bracket that won’t mind paying a little more for a quicker, less crowded commute.
However, the automaker might want to hustle, as Uber and Airbus are targeting a similar timeline for their flying taxi launches.