Lift Off For Volocopter’s VoloDrone
Today at ITS Hamburg 2021, Volocopter’s electric heavy-lift VoloDrone completed its first public flight
The VoloDrone is an uncrewed, fully electric utility drone designed to carry any of the six International Organization for Standardization (ISO) pallet sizes, weighing up to 200 kg, over a 40-km range.
Taking off at 3:02 p.m., the three minute test flight reached a maximum altitude of 22 meters. For this delivery demonstration, the electric heavy-lift utility drone was outfitted with a load-box in between its landing gears. First, the demonstration teams affixed a Euro-pallet sized cargo to the box under the VoloDrone, which was followed by a smooth take-off
Said Florian Reuter, Volocopter chief executive: “This first public VoloDrone flight is a strong sign for Volocopter´s leading position in the UAM industry. We are the only UAM company offering solutions for passengers and goods that are flying fully scaled and publicly around the world”
The electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft is aimed to serve challenging missions across diverse industries.
As one member of Volocopter’s robust UAM aircraft portfolio for transporting passengers (VoloCity and VoloConnect) and goods in cities, the VoloDrone is positioned to be deployed where conventional transport options reach their limits.
In addition to developing the aircraft, Volocopter is organizing the physical (VoloPorts) and digital (VoloIQ) infrastructure to support these services, which are set to launch in the next 2-3 years. VoloIQ serves as the digital backbone for operations.
