Futuristic helicopters — Geely partners with German air taxi company

Among the stranger contraptions at the Shanghai Auto Show this year was the Volocopter, a two-seater electric air taxi that looks like the lovechild of a drone and a helicopter.

The machine is a product from German “urban air mobility” developer Volocopter and Chinese auto giant Geely, which owns Volvo, among many other auto brands.

• Volocopter plans to marry its electric air taxi technology with Geely’s mass production capabilities to “create a scalable business model for production and operations.”

Commercial air taxis are now that much closer to reality — and they will likely launch first in China.