Two years ago, Suzuki Motor Corporation and SkyDrive Inc. announced their collaboration in areas of business and technology that include technology R&D, planning of manufacturing and mass-production systems, development of overseas markets (with an initial focus on India), and promotion of efforts to attain carbon neutrality.
With Suzuki already well established as a mobility provider for many decades in three categories — automobiles, motorcycles, and outboard motors – this partnership with Skydrive provides opportunities to explore and potentially add flying cars as a fourth mobility business.
Prototypes already completed first flights
This is because Skydrive, established in 2014, has been actively developing ‘flying cars’, formally known as eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) aircraft. The company succeeded in the first crewed eVTOL flight test in Japan in 2019 and its eVTOL ‘SKYDRIVE’ is in the process of acquiring certification from the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau.
The value of eVTOLs is not only in urban transportation such as taxi services but is also seen as new means of transportation for remote islands and mountainous areas, and emergency transportation in times of disaster.
Full deployment by 2030
A roadmap has been formulated by Japanese government agencies with full-scale deployment scheduled to start in 2030. SkyDrive aims to begin air taxi service during the 2025 World Exposition in Osaka, as well as to initiate service in other regions of Japan.
Suzuki’s manufacturing expertise
Suzuki, as an experienced vehicle manufacturer, will provide the necessary expertise to produce the eVTOLs. Production began this month at Suzuki’s factory in Iwata, Shizuoka. Up to 100 eVTOLs are expected to be produced annually.
Orders coming in
Orders for the 3-seat SKYDRIVE eVTOL have been steadily growing. Among the early customers who placed orders last year was Solyu, an aircraft leasing company based in Korea. The company, which specialises in zero emission vehicles, has agreed to pre-order up to 50 units.
SkyDrive and Solyu are evaluating commercial eVTOL considerations such as vertiports, routes, infrastructure requirements, and ecosystems with the Korean government and other interested stakeholders to launch new mobility solutions in Korea.
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