Toyota is producing a ‘flying car’ for Olympics
TOKYO // Toyota is working on a “flying car”.
A startup backed by the Japanese car maker has developed a test model that engineers hope will develop into a tiny car with a driver who will be able to light the Olympic torch in the 2020 Tokyo Games.
For now, however, the project is a concoction of aluminium framing and eight propellers that barely gets off the ground and crashes after several seconds.
Toyota has invested ¥42.5 million (Dh1.41 billion) in Cartivator Resource Management to work on Sky Drive.
At a test flight yesterday, the gadget, about the size of a car and loaded with batteries and sensors, blew up a lot of sand and made a lot of noise.
It managed to get as high as eye level for a few seconds before tilting and falling to the ground.
The goal of Cartivator is a seamless transition from driving to flight, like the world of Back to the Future, said the pro- ject’s leader Tsubasa Nakamura. “I always loved planes and cars. And my longtime dream was to have a personal vehicle that can fly and go many places,” he said. The group is now working on a better design with the money from Toyota and is planning a first manned flight in 2019. No one has ridden on Sky Drive yet, or any drone, as that would be too dangerous.
In recent years, Toyota has been venturing into robotics and artificial intelligence, investing a $1bn in a research and development company in California.
It is also working in Japan on using robotics to help the sick walk and has announced a fiveyear $35m investment in its research centre in Michigan for autonomous and connected vehicle technologies.
Its boat operations began in 1997. Toyota offers four models and has sold a 845 boats. In contrast, it sells about 10 million vehicles a year.