Suzuki to produce a flying car

SkyDrive is to start production in collaboration with Suzuki at the renowned Japanese car manufacturer’s factory. SkyDrive, the Japanese “flying car” development company, has started the construction phase of the SD-05 eVTOL flying car. This is a significant milestone in the history of electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles, as the company is working with a market player no smaller than Suzuki Motor Corporation to achieve this goal, according to a company statement.

So the most striking thing about the ‘flying car’, known as eVTOL, is that it can take off and descend vertically like a helicopter – meaning it doesn’t need a dedicated runway. But the other argument for these vehicles is their environmental friendliness: because they are electrically powered, eVTOL vehicles can in principle reduce the environmental footprint of aviation and enable zero-emission flights.

A further benefit is noise reduction, as these vehicles are designed with a strong emphasis on this aspect. All in all, these vehicles allow for more flexible urban transport. Or at least that is the big promise.

The distant promise of eVTOL technology is also the promise of fully autonomous transport, which would further increase efficiency – but obviously a lot of sleep is needed to achieve this.

Sky Drive may produce such vehicles through a subsidiary it controls, Sky Works, at Suzuki Japan’s factory in Iwata. SkyDrive’s collaboration with Suzuki could see up to 100 such vehicles roll off the assembly line each year.

SkyDrive is currently working on obtaining the necessary type certification for the SD-05 eVTOL aircraft from the Japanese Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB), with the aim of bringing this model to market by 2026, and plans to obtain certification from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), while also exploring market opportunities in Asia, such as Vietnam. Initial prototypes produced in Iwata are undergoing extensive flight testing.

Source: futureflight.aero