SkyDrive

The new preorders are for the three-seat version of the SD-05 eVTOL vehicle the Japanese manufacturer announced in June as a larger version of its original two-seat SD-05 model.

South Carolina-based Austin Aviation has committed to buying five of the three-seat eVTOL from Japan's SkyDrive, which also logged new sales in Vietnam.

SkyDrive now intends to produce a three-seat eVTOL air taxi, which it will manufacture at a facility owned by car maker Suzuki.

Venture capitalist Kotaro Chiba was the company's first investor and expects to pilot the two-seat vehicle himself for personal transportation.

The company is establishing a base in Beaufort County to explore possible uses for eVTOL air taxi services with its two-seat SD-05 vehicle.

With the aim of introducing urban air mobility in the Southeast Asian country, Pacific Group has provisionally agreed to buy as many as 100 copies of the two-seater.

The Japanese start-up's SD-05 all-electric vehicle is expected to operate congestion-busting flights of up to just 10 kilometers, when it begins air taxi services at the World Expo 2025 in Osaka.

Toray Carbon Magic will develop the structure of SkyDrive's SD-05 personal eVTOL vehicle using advanced carbon fiber-reinforced plastics.

The approval followed discussion over type certification requirements conducted through Japan's Public-Private Council for Air Mobility Revolution.