SkyDrive SD-05
SkyDrive · Japan · Air Mobility · also known as SKYDRIVE, SkyDrive flying car, SD-05 · Updated
SkyDrive SD-05, marketed by its maker as the SKYDRIVE, is a battery-electric multirotor aircraft developed by SkyDrive of Toyota, Japan. It is designed to carry people: SkyDrive describes a three-occupant cabin with one pilot and two passengers. The aircraft is in type certification with the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau and has not entered commercial service.
Design and capabilities
The SD-05 is a multirotor with twelve electric motors, each turning a single rotor, arranged around a small cabin. SkyDrive publishes overall dimensions of 12.1 m by 11.4 m by 3 m including the rotors, and a maximum take-off weight of 1,400 kg. Cruise speed is given as 110 km/h and range as 15 to 40 km, so the aircraft is aimed at short hops across a city or bay rather than intercity travel. Power comes from batteries alone, and the design has no tilting rotors, wings or other transition mechanism, which keeps the airframe simple at the cost of forward speed and range.
SkyDrive has said it aims the aircraft at short urban and tourism routes in Japan and at export markets, and is pursuing certification in Japan and the United States in parallel. The company earlier flew smaller demonstrators, including a single-seat test vehicle, before settling on the current cabin size.
Programme status
Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism accepted SkyDrive's application for type certification in October 2021, when the design was a two-seat vehicle. In March 2022 SkyDrive and the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau agreed to base certification on Part II of the bureau's airworthiness inspection manual. SkyDrive began production of the aircraft in March 2024. On 10 February 2025 the bureau issued the G-1 certification basis, the document that fixes the airworthiness standards the aircraft must meet; the announcement described a three-seat aircraft. On 9 April 2025 SkyDrive flew the SD-05 publicly at the World Expo in Osaka, taking off from a vertiport on the Expo site. That demonstration was flown with nobody on board, under automatic and remote control, reaching about five metres and lasting roughly four minutes. On 15 April 2026 the bureau granted SkyDrive approved design organisation status, which lets the company verify parts of its own design work. SkyDrive has said it is targeting a commercial launch in 2028. No type certificate has been issued.
FAQ
Is it flying today? Prototypes are flying in test and demonstration, including the 2025 Expo flight, but the type is not certificated and carries no fare-paying passengers.
How many people does it carry? Three: one pilot and two passengers. The Expo demonstration flight was flown uncrewed.
How far can it go? SkyDrive quotes 15 to 40 km at a cruise speed of 110 km/h.
