He attended the Municipal Trade School and after graduating in 1886 went to Cannstatt, to take up an apprenticeship as a mechanic in the Maschinenfabrik Esslingen.
Vollmer left NAG in 1906 and together with his friend Ernst Neuberg founded the Deutsche Automobil-Construktionsgesellschaft (DAC).
During World War I, Vollmer acquired the rank of captain, and as chief designer for the German War Department's motor vehicle section, he designed the World War I German tanks A7V, K-Wagen, LK I and LK II Vollmer subsequently moved to Czechoslovakia, to join the Skoda company for whom he designed a wheel/track light tank, the KH-50 (Kolo-Housenka).
This design had roadwheels mounted on the drive sprockets and jockey wheels behind them to support the tracks.
Despite impressive specifications for the period - 13 mm armour, 37 mm turret-mounted armament, and a 50 hp engine capable of driving the tank at 8 miles per hour (13 km/h) (on tracks) and 22 miles per hour (35 km/h) (on wheels) - it was rejected by the Czech army.