There is now an official acceptance for a car type certificate for the Tokyo-based firm SkyDrive’s eVTOL flying car idea from Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism.
The acceptance of the application is really just the beginning as SkyDrive and Japan both figure out how to certify the thing and develop the laws around it.
The Start
Earlier this year, SkyDrive unveiled its first flying vehicle prototype to the public, which was followed by a successful piloted test flight in 2018.
Making an “entirely safe and dependable flying vehicle” is the goal.
The SD-03 is the most recent model of SkyDrive’s flying automobile drone. With eight propellers (two on each corner) and a peak speed of 30 mph (48 km/h), it can go for 10 minutes at a time.
SkyDrive says in its statement that the “design, construction, strength, and performance” fulfill the “required safety and environmental standards” of the MLIT safety certificate. “We are delighted” to get accepted, and we will “continue to work in close conjunction with the government and MLIT to finish our development of a totally safe and dependable flying automobile,” adds the business.
SD-03 is expected to be used for a flying taxi service in Japan’s Osaka Bay area as early as 2025 by SkyDrive, which presently operates a 30-kilogram-payload freight drone service there. A video of SkyDrive’s piloted flying vehicle in action is seen below.
The decade of flying automobiles is expected to begin in the 2020s
According to SkyDrive’s 2025 timetable, flying taxi companies like Volocopter expect to begin operations in 2023. As there is no enclosed cabin, SkyDrive’s model is unquestionably riskier.
With just two engines instead of 36, it has less redundancy than the Lilium 7-seater eVTOL aircraft, which comes with 36 ducted electric fans for additional safety. Neither SkyDrive nor the SD-03’s autonomous capabilities or other safety measures have been announced as part of the SD-03’s bigger closed cabin variant.
SD-03’s open interior and one-seater layout make it more like an airborne hoverbike than a flying car. A.L.I. Technologies, a Japanese business, has showcased a hoverbike that bears a strong resemblance. For $680,000, consumers may get their hands on a limited supply of the firm’s model, which is supported by Mitsubishi Electric and Kyocera.
For the time being, it does not appear that the SD-03 will be sold individually and will instead be included in SkyDrive’s drone as a service model.
