Tech Suzuki to produce flying cars with SkyDrive

Suzuki and SkyDrive will start producing flying cars in the spring of 2024, aiming to take the lead in the growing industry. Flying cars, a type of aircraft with the ability to take off and land using multiple rotors vertically, are typically meant for carrying a few people, with some models also equipped for use on land.

The companies will use a Suzuki Group factory in central Japan to make electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft and aim to begin production by around spring next year, Suzuki said in a statement. SkyDrive will establish a wholly-owned subsidiary to make the aircraft, and Suzuki will help with preparations for the manufacturing, including securing talent, the automaker said. Headquartered in the city of Toyota in central Japan, SkyDrive has Itochu Corp, tech firm NEC Corp and a unit of energy company Eneos Holdings Inc among its main shareholders. The two companies signed a deal in March last year to team up in research, development and marketing of flying cars.

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A huge question will be where these things are even allowed to fly, if at all.

If they have to fly airport to airport it will completely ruin the functionality and convenience they were designed to provide. Plus, they may lack the range to even make it to most other domestic airports in one go anyway.

fuel will be the stopper on this one
but I like the idea of getting into one and do a little jamming in the air

musicisgood said:

fuel will be the stopper on this one

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That is an excellent point. No doubt we will hear protestations of how "green" some of these craft are, but its all poppycock.

In fact, all green tech is poppycock. We don't need to fly. We need to walk.

SkyDrive began five days of demonstration flights in Tokyo on Tuesday, outlining how its planned air taxi service would operate from passenger check-in to take-off and landing. The trials bring the company's target of commercial operations in Japan from 2028 a step closer. At a demonstration site near Tokyo Big Sight, Chief Executive Tomohiro Fukuzawa said the company would introduce flying cars into the capital's skies in stages.


Japan's government and major automakers have backed flying cars as a next-generation mobility technology. The Tokyo metropolitan government is also working on business models that would incorporate the aircraft. SkyDrive conducted the Tokyo tests with property developer Mitsubishi Estate and trading house Kanematsu.

The startup's SD-05 flying car's 12 motors enable high-precision flight control and allow it to perform a quick 180-degree turn in midair. However, its first demonstration flight covered only about 150 meters at an altitude of 13 meters above Tokyo Bay, at a speed of 4 meters per second. While it can accommodate a pilot and two passengers, it flew unmanned via remote control. Another Tokyo trial period is scheduled for next year, before SkyDrive's commercial operations can begin in 2028. Fully autonomous flights are planned for the future.

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