Audi's Crazy Modular Pod Could Drive And Fly You to Work

Do not adjust your set: this really is one future mobility prototype that Audi is working on.

The Pop.Up Next ‘modular concept’ consists of a passenger pod that can be inserted either into a four-wheeled chassis or a large, flying drone. Either way, product names that include punctuation should be banned.

The idea is that you could rock up at a mini airport at the city limits and then transfer your pod to a drone that can fly you into the city centre. Your office has a helipad, right?

Naturally, the whole setup is electrically powered. It’s the fruit of a collaboration between Audi, which supplied battery know-how, automation tech and a Predator-esque miniature version of its trademark nose styling, Audi’s crazy baby Italdesign and Airbus, which knows a thing or two about powered commercial flight.

While Audi has already shown a previous version of the system, called Pop.Up, this one is much lighter, and the interior has been redesigned with a curved 49-inch interface screen.

Obviously there are no current plans to put this into production, but as societies and regulations change, never say never. The Audis we currently know and love aren’t long for this world, after all…