The Japanese company SkyDrive, headed by a former engineer from Toyota Motor Corp. Tomohiro Fukuzawa, plans
What it is
Project to create flying electric transportsupported by Panasonic Corporation in partnership with other Japanese and international companies. SkyDrive began trial flights in December last year, and testing was successfully completed in March. The company is now refining the prototype so that it meets the safety requirements necessary to obtain an aircraft certificate and permission to fly from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan.
In Japan, flying cars are officially calledeVTOL or “electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft.” They are distinguished by electrification, automated control and the ability to take off and land vertically. The SkyDrive air taxi is quite compact: height 1.5 m, length 4 m, width 3.5 m. The average flight time can be 5-10 minutes with a speed of up to 100 km/h. The car will be manned and can only carry one passenger.
The first passenger flights will be carried out overwater - over Osaka Bay. It is expected that in the first stage, transportation will be carried out between the territory of the Universal Studios Japan film studio, the Osaka Kaiyukan Aquarium, Osaka Expo and the recreation area under construction. And by 2050, according to the plan, it will be possible to get to the desired location within 23 districts of Tokyo in 10 minutes. For vertical takeoff and landing, a small “patch” of land is enough.
According to Morgan Stanley research in 2019year, the electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) segment has enormous potential. By approximately 2040, global demand for it could reach $1.5 trillion.
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