Toyota Hopes to Light Olympic Flame with Flying Car

Dean Sigler Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

Cartivator, a startup with seemingly boundless energy and endless ideas, hopes to use its Skydrive single-person “flying car” to light the Olympic flame in 2020.  The compact vehicle, claimed to be the smallest flying car in the world, is a tricycle which can traverse roads efficiently.  When confronted by hazards or traffic jams, it can lower its propeller guards and hop over the inconveniences along the way. Cartivator Resource Management (CRM) describes itself as “mainly young engineers and venture parties” volunteering, “To carry out the development of the flying car” with the aim of lighting the torch at the Tokyo Olympic Games and Paralympic Games opening ceremony of 2020.  The team pledges, “We will work to accelerate the further technology development.” One of Cartivator’s promotional videos shows a couple using the vehicle to dodge fallen trees, narrow roads, and allow grandma to visit the grandkids in a distant valley.  Rural roads in Japan are tough going. The second gives a …