SkyDrive Partners with Suzuki on eVTOLs

Akihabara News (Tokyo) — SkyDrive is partnering with major Japanese auto and motorcycle maker Suzuki in order to push forward its eVTOL development.

SkyDrive, which is building its own two-seat model eVTOL, suggests in the press release announcing the partnership that it will include collaborations on technology research and development, manufacturing plans, and mass-production systems utilizing the decades-long experience of the automaker.

SkyDrive itself was founded in July 2018 primarily by engineers who had previously worked at Toyota Motor.

Interestingly, it has also been revealed that the two firms will collaborate on the development of overseas markets “with an initial focus on India.”

Highlighting the Indian market is by no means an accident.

Many observers of the global eVTOL industry have been somewhat dubious about SkyDrive’s international prospects, since it must compete against eVTOL makers that are producing much larger aircraft, including some seating five or more people. By comparison, SkyDrive’s two-seater ambition (which in most cases means a pilot and only one passenger) appears to be at a distinct disadvantage.

SkyDrive’s team, however, has been eyeing the Asian market specifically, where urban areas tend to have much less space available than some Western cities.

In such a context, it may be that SkyDrive’s small two-seaters could become the only eVTOLs that are practical to use in some of the compact Asian environments.