Twelve rotors hummed into the sea breeze as SkyDrive’s flying car lifted itself straight up from land and out over Tokyo Bay, marking another moment the new mode of air mobility came a step closer to a reality. Still, hurdles remain to be resolved before it is put into practical use.
The Feb. 24 demonstration flight of the Japanese startup’s SD-05 model at an outdoor space of the Tokyo Big Sight convention center, located in the Japanese capital’s waterfront area, offered a glimpse of the future of mobility with no traffic congestion and less noise compared with automobiles and helicopters, and zero emissions during operation.
In a trip that took about three and a half minutes, the remote-controlled flying car, or electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, climbed up to about 13 meters and traveled roughly 150 meters offshore before returning, at speeds of up to 4 meters per second.
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