Aichi, Japan

Takumi Yamamot’s SkyDrive SD-03 flying car is the world’s smallest electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) model and it just made a world debut manned test flight The company held the first public demonstration of their ‘flying car’ project last August 2020 in Japan.

The SkyDrive SD-03 didn’t actually ‘soar’ to the heavens and move through time like in Back to the Future 2, but it managed to lift and hover six feet on the ground with a pilot on board.

The entire flight lasted around five minutes and is the company’s first manned flight aboard the SD-03 flying car.

Toyota-backed SkyDrive considers this to be the mode of transportation in the near future.

“We are extremely excited to have achieved Japan’s first-ever manned flight of a flying car in the two years since we founded SkyDrive in 2018 with the goal of commercializing such aircraft,” said Tomohiro Fukuzawa, CEO of SkyDrive.

“We want to realize a society where flying cars are an accessible and convenient means of transportation in the skies and people are able to experience a safe, secure, and comfortable new way of life.”

In terms of dimensions, the flying car’s design is said to be four metres long, four metres wide and two metres high.

The SkyDrive SD-03 flying car features a sleek and aerodynamic styling and comes with two white lights at the front while a red light will also be present at the bottom.

This red light is said to help observers from the ground determine which way the flying car is headed in the sky.

This single-seat, electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle has two sets of counter-rotating rotors up front and two more sets at the rear, with each one being driven by its own electric motor in case of emergency.

“Its total footprint occupies the space of around two medium-sized automobiles, while the size of the SD-03’s batteries, air traffic control technology, as well as other infrastructure issues are still being addressed ahead of commercial approval,” continues Fukuzawa.

The company hopes to have them in the skies by 2023 after they pass critical safety tests.

“In designing an unexplored, new genre of transportation known as the flying car, we chose the keyword ‘progressive’ for inspiration, states Yamamot.

“We wanted this vehicle to be futuristic, charismatic and desirable for all future customers, while fully incorporating the high technology of SkyDrive.”

“We believe that this vehicle will play an active role as your travel companion, a compact coupe flying in the sky.”

“As a pioneer of a new genre, we would like to continue designing the vehicles that everyone dreams of.”

Project: Takumi Yamamot SkyDrive SD-03
Designers: Takumi Yamamot, Toyota R&D Center
Manufacturer: SkyDrive Inc.