The “air car” industry may take off

　   In the 1974 film "The Man with the Golden Gun", Bond was chasing the villain in his car, but unexpectedly the villain flew away in a car with wings installed - this was the first time that an "air car" appeared in a movie.

　　While movies bring sensory stimulation to humans, they also inspire people's endless imagination.

　　Electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles, known as air cars, do not require runways and are quiet, making them a promising tool for taming congestion in big cities. Experts predict that personal air transportation will become a trillion-dollar industry by 2040.

　　In order to get a piece of this huge pie, many start-ups are studying how to solve the problems faced by aerial cars, such as lightweighting and increasing the range of the vehicle. Tomohiro Fukuzawa, CEO of Japan's SkyDrive, said with great anticipation that aerial cars "will set off a travel revolution."

　　Air cars are coming

　　According to the US Strategic Management Group (SMG), there are currently 28 companies around the world committed to developing electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft.

　　According to Tomohiro Fukuzawa, the company's first aerial car, "SKYDRIVE", can carry three people and will strive to obtain an airworthiness certificate equivalent to a vehicle certificate in 2025.

　　At the end of June last year, Alef Aeronautics' Model A officially became the first pure electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle approved by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which means it can legally fly in the United States.

　　Alef's air car is all-electric, can be driven on the road, has vertical take-off and landing capabilities, can carry one or two passengers, and costs about $300,000. The Model A is now available for pre-order and is scheduled to start delivering to customers before the end of 2025.

　　In addition, China's Xiaopeng Huitian Traveler X2 also obtained a special flight license issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China Central South Region, becoming the first successfully approved manned electric vertical take-off and landing product in the country.

　　“Weight reduction” makes cars easier to take off and land

　　Of course, on the road to take-off, aerial cars currently also face some challenges, including "weight reduction", improving transportation capacity, increasing cruising range and reducing carbon emissions.

　　It is reported that about 30 start-ups in Japan and abroad are challenging issues such as lightweight and range of aerial vehicles.

　　For example, SkyDrive uses the same carbon fiber composite materials as aircraft, which allows it to keep its maximum take-off weight to 1.4 tons, about half that of a medium-sized helicopter.

　　The company envisions taking off and landing on the rooftops of ordinary buildings. Fukuzawa Tomohiro emphasized: "By making the air car lightweight, it can take off and land on the rooftops of various buildings, which will be an advantage in the (densely populated) Asian market."

　　Transport capacity increased and costs reduced

　　Improving transportation capacity is also a difficult problem that major aerial car startups are working hard to solve.

　　Currently, the aircraft being developed by various companies can only accommodate 3 or 4 people. In addition to the driver's seat, there are only 2 or 3 passenger seats, so the shipping cost may be relatively high.

　　Wisker Aerospace, a subsidiary of Boeing, intends to overcome the above shortcomings by using unmanned driving functions. The new aircraft carrying four people announced by the company in 2022 uses the control technology of private aircraft, eliminating the driver's seat and reducing ground control. The company estimates that by saving the labor cost of the driver, the transportation cost of each passenger can be reduced to "US$2 per kilometer", which is equivalent to the taxi fare in New York, USA.

　　Hybrid power increases driving range

　　Like electric cars, electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft also need to be charged at regular intervals. If the battery capacity is increased to extend the range, the aircraft will become heavier and the power consumption will increase. This is a dilemma. It is reported that with existing technology, the range of most aerial vehicles is only a few dozen kilometers, and their use is limited to urban transportation.

　　The new aircraft "ATEA" of France's Superior Aircraft Technology uses a hybrid drive. ATEA's hybrid propulsion system uses kerosene and batteries to reduce fuel consumption, and the cruising range will reach 400 kilometers. Once put into operation, ATEA will be able to fly in and around cities, carrying passengers for up to 2 hours of travel. In addition, compared with helicopters, ATEA produces only 1/4 of the noise.