After PAL-V and AeroMobil, Toyota gets serious about flying cars

Cartivator, a group of young Toyota employees, is working on a flying car project slated to launch ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Cartivator SkyDrive flying car modelCartivator

Flying cars are finally happening. Dutch outfit PAL-V International BV has already opened bookings for road and air-legal flying car PAL-V Liberty with deliveries expected from 2018. Slovakian company AeroMobil had also recently revealed its flying car with delivery target by 2020. The latest to jump on the bandwagon is Japanese auto giant Toyota Motor Corporation.

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Toyota has decided to finance a flying car project that some of its young employees have been voluntarily working on, reports Nikkei Asian Review.

The project is led by a group called Cartivator, which started in 2012 when project leader Tsubasa Nakamura won a business contest. Toyota and its group of companies have agreed, in principle, to provide around 40 million yen ($352,982) to Cartivator. The team had largely used crowdfunding and other means for financing so far.

Cartivator has also received some outside help -- from Masafumi Miwa, a drone expert and associate professor of mechanical engineering at Tokushima University, and Taizo Son, founder of GungHo Online Entertainment, a Japanese online video game developer.

Toyota flying car — Cartivator SkyDrive modelCartivator

Cartivator is planning to use the fund to create a manned flying car prototype by the end of 2018. The team is currently working to develop technology to control propellers to stabilise the vehicle. The commercial roll out of the flying car from Cartivator is expected in 2020, when Tokyo hosts Olympics.

"This time, we were able to get your support towards a full-scale prototype production. Everyone was giving me support so far, and I would like to thank new thick to everyone for your support giving me the Toyota Group," said Cartivator development activities representative Tsubasa Nakamura.

The team's SkyDrive model is currently under development. The flying car is slated to measure 2,900mm long, 1,300mm wide, and 1,100mm tall. The three-wheeled flying car will be able to take-off and land on public roads. It is expected to have an air speed of around 100 kmph. On land, it is expected to travel at speeds of up to 150 kmph.