FLYING cars is the stuff of fiction but they will become a reality sooner rather than later. Just this month, NEC, the Japanese IT and networking giant, demonstrated an aerial vehicle that many news media outlets have described as a “flying car”.
The vehicle measured 3.9 metres long, 3.7 metres wide and 1.3 metres tall and was equipped with four propellers and three wheels. Running on batteries, it was quite light at 148kg. Secured by a rope and tested in a cage (for safety purposes in case things went wrong), it hovered at a height of about 3 metres off the ground for just under a minute.
Unlike many companies involved in the emerging flying car sector, NEC has no plans to be a manufacturer of flying cars. Instead, it is looking to provide some of the technology for flying cars. For example, the vehicle it demoed used NEC’s management system to control flight and determine its location.
“Japan is a densely populated country and that means flying cars could greatly alleviate the burden on road traffic,” Kouji Okada, a project leader at NEC, told Bloomberg. “We are positioning ourselves as an enabler for air mobility, providing location data and building communications infrastructure for flying cars.”
The Japanese government is fully behind the development of flying cars, which it sees as the solution to the country’s traffic problems. It is also seen as a way to boost tourism and increase access to remote and disaster struck areas.
The country has assembled over 20 industry leaders in the automotive and aeroplane industry to help it design the roadmap for flying cars. Japanese venture capitalists have also hopped onto the bandwagon and started a special fund called the Drone Fund to support this endeavour. The government’s ambitious plans are to introduce flying cars for logistics use by 2023, for personal transportation by the mid-2020s for rural areas, and by the 2030s for urban areas.
DEFINITION OF A FLYING CAR
But what is a flying car exactly? Some people think of it as literally an automobile that drives on the street just like any car but can convert into an airplane and fly! While there are some endeavours in that area, the Japanese government’s definition of flying cars is that of an electric aircraft that’s capable of vertical landing and autonomous flight.
You could call it a drone but what NEC demoed this month isn’t like your typical drone. First of all, it’s much bigger than the typical drones we’re used to seeing hobbyists fly in open fields. The NEC vehicle was much larger (designed to carry people) and requires industrial strength technologies.
Of course, Japan isn’t the only country interested in flying cars. In the past year, we’ve read stories about other countries, including New Zealand, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, and USA, which seem to have an interest in a flying car. And interestingly, so does Malaysia.
ENTER THE VECTOR
Known as the Vector, the Malaysian flying car is currently being developed by the Aerodyne Group in collaboration with a Japanese partner (this shouldn’t be surprising as our national car projects relied on Japanese partners too, and given the Japanese government’s interest in this new sector, Japan seems like an obvious partner for Malaysia).
According to Aerodyne’s business development and consulting senior director Imtyaz Mohd Azzat, the Vector is essentially a drone-based, point-to-point air mobility solution. “The Vector is powered by four motors and a lithium-ion battery that enable the vehicle to fly. The vehicle can also carry approximately 150 to 200 kg of load and fly about 50 metres above ground level at 60 km/h, and has from 30 up to 90 minutes of flight time,” he told Bernama.
So, it seems that our so-called “flying car” isn’t what most people assumed it would be when the news first broke about this project. (The idea of a Malaysian flying car probably conjured for many people, images of a Proton Saga with wings).
Imtyaz said he was grateful that the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development had been supportive and helped the company to develop the ecosystem that made this idea work. “Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad seemed pleased with this idea when he visited the booth (at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace 2019 exhibition),” he shared.
Not everybody is excited about the concept of a flying car though. Tesla CEO Elon Musk, whom many consider to be a visionary, doesn’t think they’re practical. “Obviously, I like flying things,” he told Bloomberg, before adding: “But it’s difficult to imagine the flying car becoming a scalable solution.”
He feels that there are too many downsides. For example, flying cars would need to generate considerable downward force to keep them flying, which translates into a lot of noise and wind for those on the ground.
Then, there’s the possibility of debris falling on top of people if there’s a mid-air accident. “If somebody doesn’t maintain their flying car, it could drop a hubcap and guillotine you,” he said. “Your anxiety level will not decrease as a result of things that weigh a lot buzzing around your head.”
He has a good point. Perhaps that’s why initially flying cars are expected to be used in rural areas first. It might be a long time before they’d be allowed to fly over urban areas and even then, probably only on specific designated routes. That said, flying cars are happening…
Oon Yeoh is a consultant with experiences in print, online and mobile media. Reach him at oonyeoh@gmail.com.