『Air』 Cars are just around the corner!
As another solution to smart transportation, "flying cars" are gradually moving into reality.
Recently, Japan's SkyDrive company successfully completed its first manned flight test. Its code-named SD-03 flying car hovered at an altitude of 10 meters for 4 minutes and successfully landed.
It is understood that among more than 100 flying car projects around the world, SkyDrive is one of the few successful test flights. Tomohiro Fukuzawa, the head of the company, said that while ensuring safety, the flying car will be put into production in 2023 and will be fully commercialized.
The smallest flying car in history
On August 25, SkyDrive conducted its first test flight at the Toyota test site. The Toyota Testing Ground is one of the largest test sites in Japan and the location of the automobile company's project development. This is the first time that a flying car has been publicly displayed in Japanese history.
In the demonstration video, a test pilot operated the SD-03 flying car and took off successfully at the test base.
From a distance, like a common aircraft in science fiction movies, the flying car has a futuristic look, and project design director Takumi Yamamot said its design inspiration came from the word "Progressive".
This flying car is 2.9 meters long and 1.3 meters wide, and takes up only two parked cars. It is currently the smallest electric vertical flying car in the world.
Unlike drones, this car can take off and land vertically, without long runways and take-off and landing racks, and it can also flexibly rotate in the air.
The altitude of this test flight was 10 meters and lasted about 4 minutes. Currently, its battery life can only last for 5-10 minutes, and the next stage will extend the flight time to 30 minutes.
After testing, this manned flying car can sail at low speeds and has stability similar to a drone. The research team said that in the future, the car's maximum flight speed can reach 100 kilometers per hour.
Currently, this technology has received financial support from many enterprises and governments, and is planned to be commercialized in 2023. Fukuzawa said,
"In the future, we hope that flying cars will become the most common and convenient means of transportation, and people can experience safety, security and comfort in travel."
Unlike helicopters and electric vertical takeoffs and landings (eVTOLs), flying cars provide fast point-to-point personal services at least in principle. If you can fly successfully, it will not only eliminate the problem of traffic congestion, but also hope to solve problems such as transportation in remote islands or mountainous areas, or rescue operations in disaster areas.
However, the current R&D still has many challenges in safety, air traffic control, battery life, etc.
Commercialization "Roadmap" has launched
SkyDrive's Flying Car R&D project since 2012 and has received financial support from top Japanese companies from the beginning, including automaker Toyota Motor Corp, electronics company Panasonic Corp and video game developer Bandai Namco.
Among them, Toyota Chairman Jim Adler said that the highly connected, automated, multi-modal and widely available characteristics of SkyDrive flying cars are in line with our views on future modes of transportation.
One of our vision is to use technology to fundamentally change the way people travel on land, sea or air.
The emerging electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) industry combines expertise in the automotive manufacturing and aerospace sectors. On the one hand, it may produce a large number of relatively small vehicles, and on the other hand, it involves a large number of avionics technology.
"Battery" is an important measurement indicator for the current technological development status of this industry. A professional said, "We are now seeing all the changes in the eVTOL market, mainly because of the advancement of battery technology.
In addition to this, safety, noise and cost are also key aspects of the current development of the eVTOL industry.
Early SkyDrive's flying cars have not been ideal in these three aspects. After several years of technological improvement, they have received a new financing of 3.9 billion yen, including funding support from the Japanese Development Bank.
SkyDrive released the pilot aircraft
in 2017. In addition, the Japanese government has also cooperated vigorously with SkyDrive and actively formulated a commercial "roadmap" for it. Trade Department official Xin Si Dechang said they are very optimistic about the potential of flying car carriers to solve the rescue and transportation problems in disaster areas. In addition to SkyDrive, the Japanese government is also working with large companies such as Boeing, Airbus, and Japan Airlines.
In addition, in the flying car market, there are far more than SkeyDrive.
includes Uber, Honeywell, Wisk, Germany's Lilium Aviation, France's Safran, and the Kitty Hawk project supported by Google's founder Larry Page, etc., which are also actively exploring in this field.
For example, British engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce has launched the "Flying Taxi" program in 2018, and Kitty Hawk has begun providing test flights to those interested in buying cars.
SkyDrive may not be the first company to complete a test flight, but it is the first listed company to conduct unlimited test flights.
The emergence of flying cars is inevitable
According to relevant research, flying cars may start to provide regular services in 2023, and their application scenarios are mostly simple transfers from airports and first-tier cities.
is expected to be widely integrated by 2035 and will be completely connected with traditional transportation methods by pre-establishing hubs.
Kitty Hawk CEO said the emergence of flying cars in the future is inevitable. As airplanes, mobile phones and self-driving cars take time to win user recognition, flying cars are the same, but their time may be relatively short.
Quote link: Leifeng.com Leifeng.com Leifeng.com Leifeng.com
https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterlyon/2020/08/29/flying-car-takes-off-in-japan-with-first-manned-test-flight/#71e1c2a3441e
https://techx plore.com/news/2018-08-cars-japan-airborne-vehicles.htmlhtml
https://www.thedrive.com/news/36076/they-keep-working-on-flying-cars-but-you-still-wont-own-one-any-time-soon
