German eVTOL aircraft developer Volocopter this week joined the city of Los Angeles’s efforts to launch air taxi services. The company has signed up to participate in the Urban Movement Labs collaboration, which is part of a wider Urban Air Mobility Partnership launched by Mayor Eric Garcetti in December 2020.
On September 15, Volocopter said it would work with the California city’s initiative to explore applications for its two-seat VoloCity eVTOL vehicle, as well as its larger, longer-range VoloConnect aircraft and the VoloDrone cargo model. The company will give a presentation at the CoMotion LA event from November 16 to 18 to give the local population an opportunity to learn more about urban air mobility (UAM).
The Urban Movement Labs is a public-private partnership formed in November 2019 that works with Mayor Garcetti’s office and the Los Angeles Department of Transportation to advance the city's plans. Other eVTOL aircraft developers, including Archer and Hyundai, are already involved in the project, as have been entities such as Los Angeles World Airports and drone delivery company Kiwibot.
“Our partnership with Urban Movement Labs is a great entryway into the U.S. with our innovative UAM services,” said Volocopter chief commercial officer Christian Bauer. “By leading the conversation about UAM with broad stakeholders in Los Angeles, Volocopter can strategically identify and address how our services can benefit cities in the country. More importantly, we are also gaining real insights into living transportation ecosystems in the U.S. to build the best complementary service to other modes of transportation for our future passengers.”
In January 2021, Volocopter announced plans to establish air taxi operations in the U.S., at the same time reporting that the FAA has accepted its application to concurrently validate the EASA type certification for its all-electric aircraft. At that time, it identified Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., as possible early-adopter locations. The company is also involved in plans to establish services in cities including Paris, Singapore, and London.
