NEC ‘flying car’ gets airborne

A drone-like quadcopter capable of carrying passengers lifted off for almost a minute during a Tokyo demonstration.

Japanese electronics manufacturer NEC Corp showed off the battery electric ‘flying car’ in a safety cage without a passenger, getting it up about three metres.

Project partner Cartivator will begin mass producing the quadcopter in 2026, Bloomberg reports.

Japan’s government wants to have flying cars carrying cargo by about 2023 and intends having people travel in them some time in the 2030s.

“Japan is a densely populated country and that means flying cars could greatly alleviate the burden on road traffic,” NEC project leader Kouji Okada says. “We are positioning ourselves as an enabler for air mobility, providing location data and building communications infrastructure for flying cars,” Bloomberg adds.

A ‘drone fund’ has been established to invest in autonomous aircraft and flying cars.

The NEC quadcopter is about 3.9 metres long, 3.7m wide and 1.3m high, weighing around 150kg.

New Zealand is testing Google co-founder Larry Page’s Kitty Hawk electric vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) pilotless aircraft in Canterbury through Zephyr Airworks, while Singapore and Dubai are among those interested in introducing flying cars.

Companies involved also include Uber, Airbus, Volocopter and Boeing.