SCI-FI

Paris Plans to Use Pilotless ‘Flying Taxis’ for 2024 Olympic Games

The city is preparing to roll out a small batch of “Volocopter” vehicles—small, pilotless, nonpolluting flying cabs.

The sky over Paris could be filled with a fleet of buzzing electric aircraft around this time next year, taking Olympic Games visitors to and from the Olympic village. Come next year’s games, the city is preparing to roll out a small batch of “Volocopter” vehicles—small, pilotless, nonpolluting flying cabs that can transport two passengers at a time. Should European regulators give them the green light, France could be the first company to fly taxis commercially. But with a limited battery range that lasts under 30 minutes, it may be more of a proof-of-concept than an actual rideshare replacement. Still, many in the aviation industry see electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft—otherwise known as eVTOLs—as the future of passenger travel. “We’ll have hundreds, if not thousands, of eVTOLs by the time you get to 2028,” Billy Nolen of Archer Aviation Inc. told The Associated Press.