General Motors on Tuesday unveiled a futuristic flying Cadillac – a self-driving vehicle that takes off and lands vertically and carries the passenger over the streets and through the air.
A senior GM manager described the concept as “reimagining the future of personal transport”.
A single-passenger Cadillac – technically, a vertical take-off and landing drone (VTOL) – will be able to travel from the city roof to the city roof at speeds of up to 55 miles per hour.
It is fully autonomous and fully electric, with a 90kW motor, a GM Ultium battery pack and an ultra-light body with four pairs of rotors.
The Cadillac flyer was featured in a video as part of a virtual presentation by CEO Mary Barra, along with a Cadillac family electric shuttle.
Last year, Barra revealed that the carmaker is exploring such alternative modes of transport as air taxis.
The concepts in the CES video were introduced by GM’s chief design officer Mike Simcoe, who described VTOL as the “Cadillac of urban air mobility.”
“VTOL is the key to GM’s vision for a multimodal future,” he said.
The Cadillac autonomous shuttle, described in the video as “coming soon”, features a box silhouette reminiscent of the Cruise Origin, also designed by the Simcoe team. It has sliding front and rear doors and a panoramic glass roof.
The cabin has lounge chairs, plus biometric sensors, voice control and hand gesture recognition.
GM declined to disclose further details.
Other carmakers, including Toyota Motor, Hyundai Motor and Geely Automobile, have previously introduced concept aircraft as part of their future planning.
GM shares rose 6.2% to $ 47.82.