German electric flying taxi developer Volocopter announces the completion of its entire production line in Bruchsal. All of the company’s own production facilities will start operations this month. They are expected to produce 50 VoloCity aircraft per year.
The announcement coincides with the official opening of a new hangar with its own landing pad, where the final assembly and development flight tests of the model will take place. The company says it has the capacity and regulatory approval to build over 50 aircraft per year. Over 18 months, the company has built up and expanded its own production at various locations in Bruchsal. Production of the VoloCity is scheduled to start this month.
“Right here is where the aircraft that will change how humanity moves about cities will take off and make its way across the world,” expresses CEO Dirk Hoke. “This region is known for transforming mobility – the bicycle, the car, and soon Volocopter, too. Electric air taxis and Volocopter in particular is a technology made in Germany that will make the world a more sustainable place.”
Since 2021, Volocopter says it has held a certificate as a manufacturing company in accordance with EASA guidelines and issued by the German Federal Aviation Authority. This certification covers the manufacture of carbon fibre parts, all aspects of the electric drive unit and final assembly with a connection of the drive system and fuselage, as well as extensive end-of-line flight testing.
The VoloCity is the fifth-generation Volocopter and is set to become the company’s first certified electric air taxi for cities. Basically, the Bruchsal-based company is working on a whole family of flying machines (VoloCity, VoloRegion and VoloDrone). The so-called critical design review of the VoloCity has now been completed, they say. This is now the aircraft that can be produced “with sufficient scope to incorporate further findings from flight testing”.
Volocopter describes itself as the first and only electric air taxi company to hold EASA design organisation approval (DOA) and production operation approval (POA). The company is already planning commercial air taxi services in cities such as Singapore, Rome, Neom and Paris in 2024.
Keyword: Volocopter is ready to kick off production in Bruchsal