Suzuki is taking flight with a new agreement that will see flying cars from SkyDrive built at one of their plants in Japan. The facility is located in the Shizuoka Prefecture and is slated to begin production by the spring of 2024.
The companies didn’t go into many specifics, but SkyDrive will establish a subsidiary to manufacture eVTOL aircraft and it will be 100% owned by them. As a result, Suzuki’s involvement seems somewhat limited, although they’ll “cooperate with SkyDrive’s manufacturing subsidiary in preparing for the start of manufacturing, including securing of human resources.”
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The plant will build a three-seat electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft that has a unique “rotor dome,” which consists of 12 rotors. This enables the aircraft to travel at speeds of up to 62 mph (100 km/h), but the model only has a range of approximately 9 miles (15 km).
While production is slated to begin next year, SkyDrive doesn’t expect to obtain an airworthiness certification until 2025. If everything goes according to plan, type certification will be granted in 2026 and then mass production can begin. The company also noted they’re aiming to receive certification from the Federal Aviation Administration and this would enable the model to operate in the United States.
While that’s a few years off, SkyDrive has been testing flying car concepts and prototypes since 2014. They originally teamed up with Suzuki last year and aim to “create a future where everyone has access to eVTOLs as their daily transportation in Japan and across the world.”
