Road map drawn for flying cars

● Japan is making a push to develop flying cars, enlisting companies including Uber Technologies and Airbus in a governmentled group to bring airborne vehicles to the country in the next decade.

The group will initially comprise 21 companies and organisations, including Boeing, NEC, a Toyota-backed start-up called Cartivator, ANA Holdings, Japan Airlines and Yamato Holdings, said the trade ministry in Tokyo. Delegates will gather on Wednesday to help chart a road map this year, it said.

Flying cars that can zoom over congested roads are closer to reality than many people think. Start-ups around the world are pursuing small aircraft, which were until recently in the realm of science fiction only.

With Japanese companies already trailing their global peers in electric vehicles and self-driving cars, the government is showing urgency on the aircraft technology, stepping in to facilitate legislation and infrastructure to help gain leadership.

The technology would need to win approval from several regulators that can take many years.

Economy minister Hiroshige Seko said this month that flying cars could ease urban traffic snarls, help transportation in remote islands and mountainous areas, and be used in the tourism industry.

Many have already had a head start in the race. Uber, which will invest à20m (R366m) in the next five years to develop flying car services, aims to start an air-taxi business by 2023.

Kitty Hawk, the California-based start-up founded by Google’s Larry Page, in June offered a glimpse of an aircraft prototype: a single-person recreational vehicle. Other companies envisioning this new form of transportation include Volkswagen, Daimler and Chinese carmaker Geely.