Air taxi Volocopter takes its first public test in Germany

The volocopter , an electrically powered air taxi, flew for the first time over Stuttgart in Germany on Saturday. This was its first public test flight in a European city, according to the manufacturer.

Volocopter GmbH, a German startup backed by Intel Corp. and Daimler AG , has built the drone-like electric helicopter to ferry travelers across city skies.

The company expects to offer its first commercial trips in the next three to five years. It’s now seeking at least $100 million to gear up manufacturing of the flying taxis. The aircraft will be booked by a mobile app.

A Volocopter looks like a drone on steroids. It’s a sleek machine with 18 rotors and two seats -- either for a pilot and a passenger, or for two travelers in remote-controlled or autonomous flight mode. The company claims the drones are so quiet that you can’t hear them over city noise from 100 meters away.

Volocopter plans to build a four-seater and is open to autonomously transport parcels, which its product could do with "very few modifications," Reuter said. With more scale, there’s no reason why production of a Volocopter should cost more than an upscale taxi, for example a Mercedes-Benz E class, the CEO said.

Last week, Volocopter developer said it had raised 50 million euros ($55.1 million) from investors including automaker Geely , risking a revived debate about Chinese investments in EU firms. "The new funds will be used towards bringing the VoloCity aircraft to commercial launch within the next three years," Volocopter said in a statement.