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The race to put electric air taxis in the sky

The race to put electric air taxis in the sky

New Capabilities

Japan's SkyDrive logs 300 incident-free test flights as it aims for a 2028 launch

Today: 300 flights without incident

Overview

A small electric aircraft in central Japan has now flown 300 times without a single incident. SkyDrive logged those flights over 20 months, and 48 of them happened outside the company's own test field.

Flight tests are the easy part. No company in Japan or the United States has yet won permission to fly paying passengers in one of these machines. SkyDrive is betting its safety record convinces regulators to clear a 2028 launch.

Why it matters

Air taxis promise to turn a two-hour drive into a 15-minute hop. Whether that happens by 2028 depends on records like this one.

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Key Indicators

300
Test flights without incident
Flown between November 2024 and June 2026.
48
Flights outside the test center
Runs in less controlled settings, closer to real operations.
20 months
Length of the test record
The span over which the 300 flights accumulated.
2028
Targeted commercial launch
The year SkyDrive aims to carry its first paying passengers.
8
Aircraft ordered for Florida
A Florida partner signed a letter of intent in March 2026.

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People Involved

TF
Tomohiro Fukuzawa
Leading SkyDrive toward its 2028 commercial target

Organizations Involved

SkyDrive Inc.
SkyDrive Inc.
eVTOL Aircraft Manufacturer
Flight-testing the SD-05 toward certification

A Toyota-backed Japanese company building the SD-05, a compact electric aircraft that takes off and lands vertically.
Suzuki Motor Corporation
Suzuki Motor Corporation
Automaker and Production Partner
Building the SD-05 at its Japanese plant

The carmaker producing SkyDrive's SD-05 aircraft at one of its Japanese factories.

Timeline

July 2018 July 2026

6 events Latest: Today
Tap a bar to jump to that date

  1. 300 flights without incident

    Today Milestone

    SkyDrive announces 300 SD-05 flights over 20 months with no incident, including 48 outside its test center. It frames the record as proof of readiness for a 2028 launch.

  2. Florida order and 100 km/h milestone

    Commercial

    SkyDrive signs a letter of intent with Aeroauto Global for eight SD-05 aircraft and reports stable flight at 100 km/h.

  3. SD-05 flight testing starts

    Testing

    SkyDrive begins the flight-test campaign that will accumulate hundreds of flights over the next 20 months.

  4. SD-05 production begins with Suzuki

    Manufacturing

    Production of the SD-05 starts at a Suzuki Motor plant, SkyDrive's official manufacturing partner.

  5. First public crewed flight

    Milestone

    SkyDrive demonstrates a crewed single-seat prototype hovering at its test field, drawing wide attention in Japan.

  6. SkyDrive founded

    Origin

    Tomohiro Fukuzawa launches SkyDrive to build compact electric vertical takeoff aircraft.

Historical Context

3 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

May 1977

New York Airways rooftop collapse (1977)

For years, helicopters ferried commuters between Manhattan rooftops and area airports. In May 1977, a parked helicopter's landing gear failed atop the Pan Am Building. A rotor blade broke loose and killed five people, four on the roof and one on the street below.

Then

New York Airways suspended rooftop service almost immediately. The route never fully recovered.

Now

The accident helped end the idea of routine urban rooftop air commuting in New York for decades.

Why this matters now

It shows how a single accident can freeze public trust in flying over cities. SkyDrive's 300 incident-free flights are aimed squarely at that fear.

October 2023

EHang wins the first eVTOL type certificate (2023)

China's aviation regulator granted EHang a type certificate for its EH216-S, a small autonomous passenger aircraft. It was the first such approval for an electric vertical-takeoff passenger aircraft anywhere in the world.

Then

EHang began limited tourism flights in China and later added production and operating approvals.

Now

It proved the certification path exists, while leaving open how fast Western and Japanese regulators would follow.

Why this matters now

EHang shows the milestone SkyDrive is chasing is real and reachable. It also shows how much depends on which regulator, and which country, moves first.

1990s to 2000s

Moller Skycar's long stall (1990s–2000s)

Inventor Paul Moller spent decades and tens of millions of dollars promoting the Skycar, a personal flying vehicle. It made only brief tethered hovers. Regulators never certified it, and Moller faced a US securities settlement over how the venture was marketed.

Then

The Skycar never entered service or reached free flight in normal operation.

Now

It became the cautionary tale for flying-car hype that outruns engineering and certification.

Why this matters now

The gap between demo and delivery is where flying-car dreams usually die. SkyDrive's manufacturing partnership and flight record are its answer to that skepticism.

Sources

(6)
SkyDrive Inc. StreetInsider / Business Wire New Atlas Business Wire autoevolution Low Altitude Economy