Tech

Suzuki may launch a flying car by 2025

Toyota-backed SkyDrive recently announced it will partner with Suzuki for the development and full-scale production of an “electric two-seat compact flying car” (eVTOL). The two sides hope to launch the product at the Osaka Expo in 2025. eVTOL can be understood as helicopters-like vehicles, but they do not need a runway, operate quietly and are cheap.

    - Photo 1.

SkyDrive Cartivator Single-Seater Prototype

This flying car is designed in a coaxial multi-frame style with 8 wings, and the cabin is covered with glass. It is capable of lifting a maximum take-off weight of 500 kg, reaching a maximum altitude of 500 meters, flying at a maximum speed of 100 km / h for about 20-30 minutes.

Although strange, this promises to be really a “flying car”, because it also offers a separate driving mode. On the ground, it travels on three wheels – two side by side underneath the cabin, and a third at the rear.

    - Photo 2.

Skydrive performed a successful manned test flight in 2020.

In their joint statement, the two companies said they would also work together to open up new markets with an initial focus on India, where Suzuki holds about half of the auto market. Suzuki also plans to invest $1.37 billion in a plant in India to produce electric vehicles and batteries.

Tomohiro Fukuzawa, head of SkyDrive, said: ‘Of the more than 100 flying car projects in the world, only a few have succeeded with the ability to carry one person in the vehicle. I hope more people will want to use and feel safe with our products.”

    - Photo 3.

In one video, SkyDrive’s flying car hovers in mid-air with a passenger inside for about four minutes.

Like helicopters, eVTOL does not need a runway. And they’re also quieter thanks to battery operation. Experts say such aircraft taxi services will be the trend for the future, but may not be popular until the 2030s.

As eVTOL becomes ubiquitous, it will need to have a surveillance air traffic control system operating over cities. Experts say those systems may have to monitor hundreds of eVTOLs or more in the air at the same time.

    - Photo 4.

There are many reasons why the eVTOL industry is focused on traveling short distances in and out of cities. Firstly, there are a lot of potential customers in big cities. Second, eVTOL vehicles cannot fly very far. Most of today’s battery technology can only allow them to fly for about half an hour.

But it is believed that, although there are still many questions to be solved, if successful, flying cars will certainly be a very different means of transport, helping to reduce congestion and overcome terrain limitations when traveling on the road. ground, especially in urban areas.

Refer DailyMail


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