Japan’s flying car SkyDrive made a test drive last Friday, August 25 at the Toyota Test Field. The vehicle, which looks like a motorcycle with propellers, was controlled by one person aboard. It lifted 1-2 meters from the ground and hovered on the area for four minutes. The head of SkyDrive Inc., Tomohiro Fukuzawa, said he hopes the “flying car” can be made into a real-life product by 2023 once they have developed safety features on it to enable hassle-free point-to-point travel.
asiatimes.com: SkyDrive boss hopes ‘the flying car’ can be made into a real-life product by 2023, but several hurdles remain
Tomohiro Fukuzawa, who heads the SkyDrive effort, said he hopes “the flying car” can be made into a real-life product by 2023, but he acknowledged that making it safe was critical, Asia Time reports.
In an interview by Associated Press with Fukuzawa, he said that , “Of the world’s more than 100 flying car projects, only a handful have succeeded with a person on board. I hope many people will want to ride it and feel safe.”
Unlike airplanes and helicopters, eVTOL, or “electric vertical takeoff and landing,” vehicles offer quick point-to-point personal travel, at least in principle.
They could also do away with the hassle of airports and traffic jams and the cost of hiring pilots, as they could fly automatically, CGTN reported to Asia Times.
wesh.com: A Japanese company has announced the successful test drive of world’s smallest electric flying car
According to Wesh.com, SkyDrive Inc. claims that the SD-03 is the world’s smallest electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle and takes up the space of about two parked cars. It has eight motors to ensure “safety in emergency situations.”
“We wanted this vehicle to be futuristic, charismatic and desirable for all future customers, while fully incorporating the high technology of SkyDrive” , says Design Director Takumi Yamamot.
The company hopes to make the flying car a part of normal life and not just a commodity. More test flights will occur in the future under different conditions to make sure the safety and technology of the vehicle meet industry standards.
