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posted by cmn32480 on Wednesday June 07 2017, @02:12PM   Printer-friendly
from the meet-George-Jetson dept.

The Associated Press reports via the Bangkok Post

Cartivator, a startup group of about 30 engineers including some young Toyota employees, started to develop their SkyDrive vehicle in 2014 with the help of crowdfunding.

The head of Cartivator, Tsubasa Nakamura, said that while the car was still at an early stage of development, the group expected to conduct the first manned flight by the end of 2018.

During the demonstration on [June 4], the current test model, a primitive-looking assembly of aluminium framing and propellers, was able to get off and float on the ground for a few seconds. Nakamura said the design needed more stability so the prototype would be able to fly long and high enough to reach the Olympic flame.

The engineers are aiming to make their flying car the world's smallest electric vehicle, which can be used in small urban areas, and hopes to commercialise the car in 2025.

Pre-flight photo

The Inquirer put it this way:

A startup backed by the Japanese automaker has developed a test model that engineers hope will eventually develop into a tiny car with a driver who'll be able to light the Olympic torch in the 2020 Tokyo games. For now, however, the project is a concoction of aluminum framing and eight propellers that barely gets off the ground and crashes after several seconds.

Photo of device hovering


Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 07 2017, @06:52PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 07 2017, @06:52PM (#522127)

    ...and if all of that wasn't annoying enough, the voice of the car was Dr. Craig from "St. Elsewhere". [google.com]

    The 80s were weird.

    TeeVee was, and always will be, weird.

    -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]