Will Japan win the flying car race?

Editor’s Note: This feature is part of Vision Japan, a series about the visionaries who are changing Japan, and the places that inspire this innovation. See more here.

Imagine beating rush hour traffic jams by zipping from A to B in the air. While flying cars have regularly made appearances in science fiction films, they could soon become reality. A group of Japanese inventors is working on an ambitious plan to launch a flying car, the SkyDrive, by the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

The Cartivator Project, a Tokyo-based non-profit, is leading the futuristic pursuit, and it has a special ambition for the vehicle.

“SkyDrive is our first flying concept designed solely to (transport the person who will) light the Olympic flame,” Ryutaro Mori, Cartivator’s business director, tells CNN.

If successful, the SkyDrive – which has three wheels, four rotors and uses drone technology – would fly at an altitude of 33 feet (10 meters), reach top airborne speeds of 62 miles (100 kilometers) per hour, and zoom along at 93 miles (150 kilometers) per hour on land.

At 9.5 feet (290 centimeters) long, 4.2 feet (130 centimeters) wide and 3.6 feet (110 centimeters) high, Cartivator claims the one-seater would be the world’s smallest flying car – and surely a snug ride for some passengers. But with companies in the United States, United Arab Emirates, Germany, Netherlands and China also trying to develop a flying car, the Japanese have competition.

Passion takes flight

Cartivator was founded in 2012 by Tsubasa Nakamura, 32, after he won first prize at business award KoreaRata for a flying car design. By 2014, the SkyDrive concept was born and a scale model one fifth the intended size of the actual flying car had been tested, according to the company website. The team has since begun testing with an experimental model that’s more similar to the real SkyDrive in scale and weight.

Today, the project has 30 volunteers from backgrounds as diverse as the automobile, aviation and IT industries. They plan to have a remote-piloted prototype running by summer 2018.

Cartivator's engineers work on the SkyDrive.

“For a highly complex system like flying cars, the success highly depends on the integration of multidisciplinary knowledge and experiences,” Mori tells CNN. “Our unique advantage is that we, as a nonprofit, volunteer organization, encourage open-source collaborations.”

Team members sustain full-time jobs, and work on SkyDrive in their spare time. While they receive no financial support from the government, last month Japanese automobile giant Toyota announced it would give 40 million yen ($365,260) to the project.

“This is not an equity investment as we are a nonprofit organization,” Mori explains.

Before that, the team had relied on crowdfunding, an avenue they are still keen to expand.

“Our goal won’t be realized unless there are many public supporters who strongly wish our presence at the Olympics.”

Uber Elevate —

In April 2017, US ride-sharing app giant Uber announced its Elevate program -- which will see vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft transport riders by air by 2020. The company is looking to launch the program in Dallas, Texas and Dubai.

Uber Elevate —

Uber says its VTOLs will cut transport time dramatically, with a trip that normally takes over an hour on the ground taking just 15 minutes by VTOL.

The Kitty Hawk Flyer —

The Flyer, a concept by US startup Kitty Hawk, is a one-seater electric aircraft with eight motors -- which, according to the company, won't require a pilot license to operate. Its first prototype was unveiled in April 2017 and should be available by the end of the year. The price of the aircraft will be revealed at a later date.

Terrafugia Transition —

Founded by five MIT graduates in 2006, US start-up Terrafugia has two flying car offerings. The Transition, pictured here, operates much like a light sport aircraft in the air and as a typical car on the ground. It was unveiled in 2009 and a 2019 first delivery is expected. Terrafugia is currently taking reservations, with a $10,000 deposit.

Terrafugia TF-X —

Terrafugia's other concept, the TF-X, is a flying car that will be capable of vertical takeoff and landing. The design was revealed in 2013 and a delivery date hasn't currently been set.

Airbus Pop.Up —

Airbus's Pop.Up concept, announced in March 2017, is a flying car featuring modules that would transform the vehicle into a car, or an aircraft.

Airbus Pop.Up —

The Pop.Up is self-piloted, and passengers can manage the system with an app. No flight date has been currently set.

Airbus Vahana —

Another one of Airbus's projects, the Vahana is a single-passenger VTOL that's scheduled to fly by the end of 2017.

AeroMobil —

Slovakia-based AeroMobil has rolled out several versions of its flying car prototype ever since the company launched in 2010. The four-wheel vehicle transforms into a VTOL. It's available for pre-order at the end of 2017.

Airbus CityAirbus —

Meanwhile the CityAirbus concept -- another VTOL from the French aerospace giant -- is cut from the same cloth, though it carries up to four passengers. The first flight will take place end of 2018.

Ehang 184 —

Dubai partnered with Chinese drone company Ehang to develop the Ehang 184, a single-passenger drone that has undergone multiple test flights. It should be ready for launch in July 2017, and Dubai hopes to shuttle passengers in them by 2020.

eVolo Volocopter 2X —

Developed by German startup e-volo, the Volocopter has been in the works since 2010. After releasing various prototypes of the VTOL through the years, in April 2017 e-volo unveiled the 2X. An evolution of previous designs, the 2X carries two passengers and is pilot-controlled -- although there are plans for it to become autonomous eventually.

Flying car concepts around the world

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Tough competition

Cartivator faces stiff competition in the flying car market. Dubai’s Road and Transport Authority (RTA) has said it is ready to launch a fleet of one-seater passenger drones made by Chinese company Ehang in July.

Small enough to fit into a car parking space when folded up, the electrically powered driverless drones – named Ehang 184 – have already been seen hovering above the sand dunes near the city’s airfield during test flights.

Powered by eight propellers, Ehang says the 184 (which stands for one person, eight propellers, four arms) will cruise at around 62 miles (100 kilometers) per hour.

The routes will be programmed by a ground control center through an encrypted 4G network which will monitor the flight.

Perhaps hedging its bets, Dubai has also partnered with American ride-sharing app firm Uber, which recently unveiled Uber Elevate, an ambitious plan to launch a flying taxi that could travel at 150 miles (241 kilometers) per hour. It intends to launch in the emirate in time for it hosting the World Fair 2020.

Uber says it is talking with NASA, the FAA, and the National Air Traffic Control Association to develop an air-traffic control system for flying cars.

Tesla T1 —

Six students from the IED Barcelona design school were tasked with creating a futuristic race car for the 2030 Le Mans. The result, known as the unofficial Tesla T1, proposes the use of four wind turbines at each wheel to propel the car.

Tesla T1 —

Comment section critics over at Design Boom were quick to point out that the Tesla T1 would be virtually impossible to produce under the harsh laws of physics, but the out-of-the-box thinking deserves an A for effort.

Airbus Pop.Up —

Pop.Up, a new concept developed by the design firm Italdesign and Airbus, brings us one step closer to a flying car -- sort of. The concept car is a two-seat carbon fiber pod that can be picked up by a large drone and transported up to 60 miles. It can also be mounted on wheels, and connected with other pods to make a sort of train.

Airbus Pop.Up —

"Adding the third dimension to seamless multi-modal transportation networks will without a doubt improve the way we live and how we get from A to B," Mathias Thomsen, general manager for urban air mobility at Airbus, said at the Pop.Up's unveiling at this year's Geneva Motor Show.

Bosch concept car —

When it comes to electronics brand Bosch's concept car, which debuted at this year's Consumer Electronics Show, it's all about the interior. Facial recognition technology is used to personalize its settings. Everything from the type of music it plays to the position of the mirrors and the ambient temperature are all adjusted to your liking so as to minimize driver distraction.

Bosch concept car —

The Bosch concept features a hologram-like dashboard display with a haptic quality, giving them a physical feel, and has a gesture control system so you can use hand signals to control certain functions. Your smartphone, meanwhile, acts as the unlock button, so you never have to carry a key.

IED Syrma concept —

Yes, this is an Italian supercar, if the sleek looks hadn't already given that away. The Syrma concept -- developed by 11 students from Milan's Istituto Europeo di Design, and presented at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show -- keeps its foot in the old and new by having a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V6 combustion engine mated to an electric motor. Other stand-out features include an output of 900 horsepower, a low carbon footprint and, in electric mode, near-silent motoring.

Mercedes-Benz 2040 Streamliner —

Though the silver color is typical for a Mercedes-Benz, South Korean designer Minwoong Im's 2040 Streamliner concept is anything but predictable. The design is based on the manufacturer's 1955 W196R, which itself drew inspiration from World War II fighter planes.

Mercedes-Benz 2040 Streamliner —

The new concept uses the same dual jet engine system as its progenitor, but swaps the curves of the past for a more angular, futuristic aesthetic.

Renault Twin'Z —

When award-winning Welsh artist and industrial designer Ross Lovegrove was asked to help craft a Renault concept in 2013, expectations were set high. The idea was to make a city car stand out on the roads, and this was done by covering the exterior with color-changing LED lights.

Renault Twin'Z —

Lovegrove set about making a less formal cabin that feels less restrictive and structured than that of a conventional car. Meanwhile, a smartphone, located where a gearshift would normally be, acts as the speedometer.

Chanel Fiole —

Rather than design a concept car for an established manufacturer, Jin Young Jo, a student from Hongik University in Seoul, South Korea, set about creating a design for French fashion house Chanel, the shape of which is meant to emulate the draping of fabric.

Chanel Fiole —

The Chanel Fiole is a rather pretty take on the classic 2+2 GT coupe that manages to squeeze in a third passenger behind the two front seats. Up front is the famous Chanel logo, set against either a black or white paint job.

Autos industry outsiders' intriguing new concepts

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Elsewhere, startups and conglomerates alike are developing prototypes of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircrafts. AeroMobil, a Slovakian engineering firm established in 2010, launched in April the latest version of its flying car concept – a four-wheeled vehicle equipped with flight mode. Consumers will be able to pre-order the cars this year.

Kitty Hawk – a US startup backed by Google co-founder Larry Page – gave a demonstration of its Flyer earlier this year. The personal aircraft is designed to fly over water, with a consumer product set to be available by the end of 2017.

Meanwhile, French aerospace giant Airbus is working on multiple eVTOL concepts: Vahana, which holds one passenger, is set to fly at the end of 2017; the CityAirbus, which accommodates four passengers, will see its first flight at the end of 2018.

Ready for takeoff?

The Cartivator team is aiming to deliver SkyDrive’s first commercial model by 2025. But some experts believe the Japanese team – and their rivals – still have way to go to deliver a viable and, crucially, safe product.

“There is a big difference between getting something into the air, and getting it into the market,” Mike Hirschberg, executive director of AHS International, the US-based international society for engineers and scientists working to advance vertical flight, tells CNN.

“There are years of aircraft development, changes in regulations, building of infrastructure, battery improvements, etc, before anything like ‘flying taxis’ can become a reality, even on a small scale.”

There are technical concerns, too.

“Key issues are getting the weight right. If (it’s) too heavy, the machine loses stability,” Geoffrey Tudor, principal analyst at Japan Aviation Management Research, tells CNN.

“Airborne vehicles are more sensitive to weather than surface types so there will be some limits on use in bad weather.”

Mori admits that they might not be ahead of the game.

“As far as we know, Japan as a whole is currently behind other countries in developing flying cars,” he tells CNN.

“However, we believe what matters more is who will provide the greatest value and build a sustainable business in the long term – rather than ‘getting there first’.”

The future

Despite Cartivator’s reservations, Japan has a history of being the first to roll out world-class innovations in transport. The first high-speed bullet train was unveiled in Tokyo in 1964 – in time for the Summer Olympics hosted that year in the Japanese capital.

More recently in 2016, a Japan Railway maglev train smashed world records reaching speeds of 374 miles (603 kilometers) per hour.

Meanwhile, the Japanese government has announced its intention for Tokyo to become a self-driving city by 2020 – Tokyo-based Dynamic Map Planning, an offshoot of Mitsubishi Electric, mapmaker Zenrin and nine automakers have been tasked with creating dynamic 3D maps of Tokyo for use by automated vehicles.

Cartivator is hoping to see their invention used to light the Olympic torch -- as shown in a rendering here.

“Japan does have a large pool of highly trained scientists and engineers working in industry and academia, who can tackle the development of new systems and machines,” says Tudor.

But for an eVTOL business to be successful, “it has to have compelling capabilities over competing means of travel at a competitive price,” Hirschberg says.

The other critical factor is community acceptance. “In addition to cost, speed and ease of use, noise is probably the biggest factor for acceptance.”

For Cartivator, it’s a work in progress.

“We believe it is realistic for flying cars to become commonly used, if we solve issues like noise, safety, and accessibility,” Mori says.

“Aside from us, a number of companies and communities have been working closely to tackle those issues through technological and business model innovations.

“We are determined to do whatever it takes to be at the Olympics.”