Japanese company completes manned “flying car" test flight

How it works: SkyDrive's SD-03 model vehicle, operating with eight motors and two propellers on each corner, lifted a single pilot about 10 feet into the air, according to the New York Times.

• Because the vehicle takes off vertically, it does not require long runways like current commercial and private airplanes.

What they're saying: SkyDrive’s chief executive Tomohiro Fukuzawa told AP that “Of the world’s more than 100 flying car projects, only a handful have succeeded with a person on board."

• Fukuzawa added that he hopes flying cars can be sold as a product by 2023, but it currently can only fly for around five to 10 minutes.
• Fukuzawa said the machine will have more commercial potential if the company can increase flight time to 30 minutes.

The big picture: Several companies, including Boeing, Airbus, Toyota, Porsche and numerous small startups in Silicon Valley, are developing similar technology.

• Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg told Axios in 2019 that he envisions the skies in U.S. cities filled with electric, autonomous flying vehicles in just a decade, ferrying people to their destination and averting congested roads.

Go deeper: Miami may be the perfect city to test out flying cars