General Motors on Tuesday unveiled a futuristic flying Cadillac, an autonomous vehicle that takes off and lands vertically and carries the passenger over the streets and through the air.
A senior GM executive described the concept as “reinventing the future of personal transportation.”
The single-passenger Cadillac, technically a vertical take-off and landing drone (VTOL), will be able to travel from urban rooftop to rooftop at speeds of up to 55 miles per hour.
It is fully autonomous and fully electric, with a 90 kW engine, a GM Ultium battery and an ultralight body with four pairs of rotors.
The Cadillac steering wheel was featured in a video as part of a virtual presentation by Executive President Mary Barra, along with a Cadillac electric shuttle, ideal for families.
Barra revealed last year that the carmaker was exploring alternative modes of transportation such as air taxis.
The concepts in the CES video were introduced by GM’s chief designer, Mike Simcoe, who described the VTOL as “the Cadillac of urban air mobility.”
“VTOL is key to GM’s vision of a multimodal future,” he said.
The Cadillac autonomous shuttle, described in the video as “arriving early,” features a boxed silhouette reminiscent of the Cruise Origin, also designed by the Simcoe team. It has sliding front and stern doors and a panoramic glass roof.
The cabin has lounge-shaped seats, as well as biometric sensors, voice control and manual gesture recognition.
GM declined to disclose further details.
Other automakers, including Toyota Motor, Hyundai Motor and Geely Automobile, have previously shown aerial vehicle concepts as part of their future planning.
GM shares rose 6.2% to $ 47.82.