Japanese auto giant, Toyota, has recently invested $375,290 (Rs. 2.43 Crore approx.) on a new flying car project. The upcoming flying car - called as SkyDrive, started off as an unofficial side project back in 2012 by a group of about 30 Toyota employees calling themselves - 'Cartivator'. In fact, the Cartivator's current goal is to have a working prototype for a manned test flight ready by 2018 and hopes to have a completely ready flying car in the next two years, so that it can be used to light the Olympic flame at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Members of Team Cartivator
Interestingly, at the beginning, the carmaker did not have many hopes from this project and the team was working on developing the flying car after their working hours. In fact, up until recently, Cartivator had largely used online crowdfunding for financing the project. But seeing the current developments, Toyota has decided to officially invest in SkyDrive. Speaking to a Japanese publication - Nikkei Asian Review - Takeshi Uchiyamada, Chairman of Toyota Motor Corporation said, "Things will not progress if you wait and provide money only when the technology is ready". In addition to this project Toyota also has a patent for a different flying car designed by two of its employees in the United States.
SkyDrive Flying Car's 1:5 Scale Model
The Cartivator team's current headquarters and workshop is a decommissioned building which used to be an elementary school in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. The old schoolyard is currently being used by the team for test flights of their prototype and the 1:5 scale model of their flying car.
The team agrees that the current prototype is far from ready. The final prototype model can seat a single person in a bubble-like canopy open on both sides and comes with rotors, one at each corner for flight. The car will also come with two wheels on the side and one in front allows for travel on the ground. In terms performance targets, the team aims for the SkyDrive to fly at about 100 kmph at an altitude of 10 metres and drive at up to 150 kmph.
SkyDrive Flying Car can fly at about 100 kmph at an altitude of 10 metres
Now, this isn't the first flying car project and neither will it be the last. Last month we told you about a small American startup called Kitty Hawk, backed by Google co-founder Larry Page, which will soon launch a new personal flying machine called 'Flyer'. The Kitty Hawk Flyer is also a single-seat aircraft with pontoons and a spider's web designed platform. The aircraft is propelled by eight rotors, and takes off and lands vertically much like a helicopter.
