Ever been stuck in such bad traffic you’ve just wanted to ditch the car, Falling Down-style, and get to your destination by any other means? Audi hears your troubles. This is the Pop.Up.Next and--if you can live with the rogue full stops--it could be your next car.
Only it’s not a car, it’s a “transporter concept.” Anyway, it’s basically a very small city car with a drone on the roof. The passenger compartment can be carried by either wheels below, or blades above, effectively making your escape from traffic as Bond villain-esque as possible.
It’s a joint effort between Italdesign, Airbus, and Audi, the latter helping develop its batteries and automation. A car this futuristic was never going to be anything but electrically powered and self-driving, was it?
Lots of other futuristic buzz phrases make an appearance, too. Its 49in screen (yes, forty-nine) has facial recognition and eye-tracking as well as boring old touchscreen functions.
There’s also much use of the word ‘mobility,’ suggesting you probably won’t own what becomes of the Pop.Up.Next, rather borrow one via an app when you need to get to work or home from the pub. Hopefully without all the less pleasant bits of Falling Down following your escape from gridlock.
NOTE: This article first appeared on TopGear.com. Minor edits have been made.
