By YUSUKE SAITO/ Staff Writer
May 11, 2023 at 08:00 JST
The commercial SD-05 flying vehicle (Provided by SkyDrive Inc.)
TOYOTA, Aichi Prefecture--A startup here has received its first individual and corporate customer orders for its $1.5-million (200-million-yen) flying vehicle.
The SD-05 model, developed by airborne car maker SkyDrive Inc., has a range of 10 kilometers and a maximum speed of 100 kph. Running costs are not included in the price.
“We will be working to make our vehicle broadly used as an air taxi on trips,” said a SkyDrive representative.
Accommodating a pilot and a passenger, the SD-05, an electric-powered compact aircraft with vertical takeoff and landing capabilities, relies on a computer-controlled assistance feature for stable flights.
The flying vehicles will be delivered to individual customers in 2025 at the earliest. SkyDrive plans to put the machines into practical operation in time for the 2025 Osaka Kansai Expo.
According to the company, a Vietnamese business has already ordered 100 units. SkyDrive said its first individual customer is investor Kotaro Chiba.
The SD-05 became widely known after SkyDrive helped to reproduce the development process of a flying vehicle for the closing episodes of Japan Broadcasting Corp.’s drama series “Maiagare!” (Fly high!) that aired in March, the company said.
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SkyDrive says it started test flights of flying car with driver
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VOX POPULI: Flying car technology catching up with ‘Blade Runner’
January 2, 2020
Eye on the sky: Toyota makes huge investment in flying cars
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NEC pursuing flying cars to lift infrastructure for future flights
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