A flying car has successfully lifted off the ground in Japan in a move that could pave the way for the product’s launch in 2023.

Japanese company SkyDrive, one of several ‘flying car’ projects around the world, has carried out a modest test flight with one person on board.

A video shows a car with propellers lifting several feet off the ground and hovering in the air for four minutes.

Tomohiro Fukuzawa, who heads the SkyDrive effort, said he hopes the aircraft can be made into a real-life product in the next three years, but acknowledged that making it safe was critical.

‘Of the world’s more than 100 flying car projects, only a handful has succeeded with a person on board,’ he told reporters.

‘I hope many people will want to ride it and feel safe.’

The machine can fly for just five to 10 minutes but it is hoped that this can be extended to 30. This would give the product more potential, with manufacturers hoping they can export it to China.

Flying car in Japan
The flying car lifted off the ground and hovered in the air for four minutes (Credits: AP)

Unlike aeroplanes and helicopters, evtol (electric vertical takeoff and landing) vehicles offer quick point-to-point personal travel, at least in principle.

They could do away with the hassle of airports and traffic jams and the cost of hiring pilots, developers say.

However, commercialising them poses huge challenges, from battery sizes to air traffic control.

‘Many things have to happen,’ said Sanjiv Singh, professor at the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, who is also working on an evtol aircraft.

‘If they cost 10 million dollars, no-one is going to buy them. If they fly for five minutes, no-one is going to buy them. If they fall out of the sky every so often, no-one is going to buy them,’ Mr Singh said.

Flying car in Japan
It is hoped the aircraft can be commercialised for the wider public by the 2030s (Picture: AP)

The SkyDrive project began as a volunteer project called Cartivator in 2012, with funding by top Japanese companies including car manufacturer Toyota, electronics company Panasonic and videogame developer Bandai Namco.

A demonstration flight three years ago went badly, but the machine has improved and the project recently received another round of funding of 3.9 billion yen (£27.8 million), including from the Development Bank of Japan.

The Japanese government is confident that flying cars can take off and have set out a ‘road map’ that would see them used for business services by 2023 and expanded to commercial use by the 2030s.

They have stressed the project’s potential for connecting remote areas and providing lifelines in disasters.

Flying car in Japan
The Japanese government say the project could connect remote areas and provide a lifeline in disasters (Picture: AP)

Experts compare the buzz over flying cars to the days when the aviation industry got started with the Wright Brothers and the car industry with the Ford Model T.

Sebastian Thrun, chief executive of evtol project Kitty Hawk, said it took time for aeroplanes, mobile phones and self-driving cars to win acceptance.

‘But the time between technology and social adoption might be more compressed for evtol vehicles,’ he said.


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