First Flying Car Passes Safety Test In Japan, Could Be On-Sale By 2025

What happened?

On October 29, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) announced that it had accepted a SkyDrive "type certificate" application for its SD-03 eVTOL (flying car) model. SkyDrive, a Tokyo-based startup introducing the eVTOL concept, said it received safety certification from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT). (1)

What does this mean?

The Tokyo-based eVTOL Startup is set to launch at the 2025 World's Fair in Osaka in Tokyo : the Japanese company SkyDrive (founded in 2012 to develop alternative forms of mobility) announced its intention to market the first model of a flying car. (2)

The flying car will be named SD-03 and is expected to sell for about half a million dollars and to go into production by mid-2020, when the company is listed for sale at an air show looking for partners to build the cell and develop electrical components. [Sources: 0, 8]Certification is only granted once the aircraft has passed a series of studies and tests including endurance and flight tests. This is the first time that MLIT has accepted an application for a flying car homologation certificate. The Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has issued a certificate confirming that the design, construction, strength and performance of the SD-03 meet the safety and environmental requirements for this aircraft. (3)

The Japanese government plans to use flying cars as a means of transport between Kansai International Airport and the exhibition area, which is almost 30 kilometers away. While there is no clear definition of what a flying car is, it has been designed as an airplane with features such as electric power, automatic steering and vertical takeoff and landing. Japanese government has established the goal of providing passenger flights by 2030. (4)

The idea is that the car travels in areas without traffic jams on the ground and can take off when they hit a traffic jam. The car was tested on August 5, 2019 by Japanese electronics company NEC in front of the media, demonstrating its ability to permanently hover using four giant propellers — for unmanned delivery flights, disaster relief operations and connecting islands in the celebrity-frequented Mie tourist area. (5)

How does this impact the legal sector?

As flying machines change from a realm of idle fantasy to an emerging reality, the public policy debate should set aside simplistic techno-utopian claims and focus on the most likely impacts on society and the environment. (6)

The advocates will argue that flying cars will bring broad societal benefits, including reduced traffic congestion and the value of having access to an additional mode of transport, even if most people never use it or rarely use it. Unfortunately, for vertical takeoff and landing boosters there is no reason to believe that flying cars will improve ground mobility, as will the networks of private companies that build, operate and maintain vehicles and related systems. (7)

The first legal ramifications of flying cars are likely to be severe. For example, it should not be too hard for the government or other regulatory agencies to regulate who can own one and where these vehicles may go in specific regions at certain times due because they do have an effect on local communities. The main concern would probably arise out how people will get from point A (their home) to B.

Other potential legal implications of flying cars, include privacy and safety. For example the autopilot system in Navdy may be considered an interceptor which can interfere with other aircraft's communications signals--not just because it flies over them but also while on approach to landings or takeoff rolls because its proximity means there will likely always come into contact at least sometimes during flight time if not constantly like what would happen when two planes fly close together normally without any kind of device between them (the interference). The company was penalized $20 million dollars last year alone by US carriers for this very thing.

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¹ https://interestingengineering.com/its-official-japan-granted-a-safety-certificate-to-a-flying-car-for-the-first-time and https://akihabaranews.com/government-certifies-skydrive-flying-car/

² https://www.thepatent.news/2020/08/31/flying-car-japan-sale-million-dollars/ and https://akihabaranews.com/government-certifies-skydrive-flying-car/

³ https://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/drone-like-flying-car-takes-step-toward-commercialization/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=this-drone-like-flying-car-has-just-taken-a-step-toward-commercialization and https://www.suasnews.com/2021/11/skydrive-japan-hit-a-milestone-as-mlit-accepts-application-for-flying-car-type-certificate/

⁴ https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20210727/p2a/00m/0na/028000c

⁵ https://www.ns-businesshub.com/transport/flying-cars-uber-rolls-royce/ and https://marketresearchtelecast.com/honda-presented-its-flying-car-prototype-it-is-called-evtol-and-could-be-sold-from-2030/171356/

⁶ https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbuil.2020.00106/full and https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/economy/reports/2020/05/28/481148/flying-cars-will-undermine-democracy-environment/

⁷ https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/economy/reports/2020/05/28/481148/flying-cars-will-undermine-democracy-environment/