SkyDrive: World’s Smallest Flying Car To Fly High At 2020 Tokyo Olympics

Toyota is backing a flying car project that will be completed in time to light up the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with a high-tech touch.

Futuristic car SkyDrive is an idea that was developed by Toyota employees in their spare time. Estimated at 40 million yen ($354,000) the drone-like compact flying car is expected to go in time to light the torch at the opening ceremony of the Tokyo games.

SkyDrive is the brainchild of Cartivator, a group of young engineers from the auto and aerospace industries. Developed with the support of crowdfunding and other donations, the group is touting its creation as the world’s smallest flying car, and is gearing to launch the manned prototype sometime next year.

The features

1. The SkyDrive concept is a small, one-seated craft flanked on each corner by large propellers, giving the vehicle the appearance of an oversized quadcopter, which it basically is.

2. It will measure 9.5 feet (2.9 m) long by 4.3 feet (1.3 m) wide by only 3.6 feet (1.1 m ) tall.

3. The new vehicle is expected to travel at flying speeds of around 62 miles per hour while hovering at heights of up to 32.8 feet, in addition to land speeds of 93 miles per hour.

4. The futuristic car will have three wheels, four sets of propellers and an intuitive operating system.

The Cartivator team says its vision is to create a world where anyone can fly to their destinations on demand without need of airports or runways, by 2050. Following the public demonstration at the 2020 Olympics, the group hopes to begin public sales of SkyDrive in 2023.