Japan: A New Flying Car Takes Off, But There’s a Catch

Japan: A New Flying Car Takes Off, But There's a Catch
It’s actually not a car.

Japan’s latest project for a proper flying vehicle was launched in May 2017. Its goal is to light the Olympic Flame at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. Due to the global pandemic, the event was delayed to 2021. This means that the team still has one year to complete the project. Good news: The first test run of this machine was completed in Japan last week.

SkyDrive, a team of Toyota engineers, has released a press release stating that they have conducted a demonstration flight with its SD-03 vehicle at Toyota’s 10,000-square meter (approximately 2.5-acres) test field. This is the first time a flying vehicle has been demonstrated in Japan.

SkyDrive CEO Tomohiro Fukuzawa comments, “We are thrilled to have achieved Japan’s first-ever manned flying car flight in the two years since our founding SkyDrive in 2018. With the goal of commercializing such an aircraft,” “We want to take our social experiment up a notch in 2023, and we will be accelerating both our technological and business development to achieve that goal.”

 

Japan: A New Flying Car Takes Off, But There's a Catch

 

According to information provided by SkyDrive, the machine circled the area for about four minutes. It was controlled by an operator assisted by a computer-controlled system. SkyDrive claims that the aircraft was “designed to be the world’s smallest electric Vertical Lift-Off and Landing (eVTOL).” This description reveals to us that it is not a vehicle, but a small aircraft.

The machine is constructed with eight electric motors that drive rotors in four positions. SkyDrive claims that further test flights will be conducted later in the year. The company also plans to fly the first flight outside of the test area by 2020.