On August 25th, SkyDrive, a Japanese company backed by Toyota, successfully performed a test flight of what appears to be a flying car—piloted by a human for about three minutes. Check out the test flight:
SkyDrive says that “the aircraft has been designed to be the world’s smallest electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL),” which tells us that SkyDrive’s vehicle is a small aircraft, not a car.
SkyDrive says that this vehicle, named SD-03, could be available by 2023, marketed to the public at a steep price of about $300,000. Although costly, as the popularity of these vehicles increases and demand becomes more significant, the cost of the vehicle could decrease.
SkyDrive is not alone—other companies such as Hyundai, Boeing, and Airbus are also working towards creating flying cars.
Flying cars will help people who live in big cities like Los Angeles and New York avoid traffic and provide transportation for people. The idea of Ubers in the air is already in cultivation, and we may not be too far off from experiencing it as reality; for example, the Japanese government is already planning on rolling out a flying taxi service in 2023.
Does this mean that the United States may also be only a few years away from using flying vehicles as taxis? It looks like we’ll have to wait and find out, and stay tuned for more information in the meantime.
