Japan is making a push to develop flying cars, enlisting companies including Uber Technologies Inc and Airbus SE in a government-led group to bring airborne vehicles to the country in the next decade, people familiar with the matter said.
The group is to initially comprise about 20 companies, including Boeing Co, NEC Corp, a Toyota Motor Corp-backed startup called Cartivator, ANA Holdings Inc, Japan Airlines Co and Yamato Holdings Co, the people said.
Delegates are to gather on Wednesday next week for the first of their monthly meetings, the people said, asking not to be identified, citing rules.
The Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism plan to draft a road map this year, they said.
An Uber spokeswoman confirmed the company’s participation in the group, but declined to comment further.
Representatives for Airbus, Boeing, ANA, JAL, NEC, Yamato and Cartivator declined to comment, as did those for the trade and transport ministries.
Flying cars that can zoom over congested roads are closer to reality than many people think. Start-ups around the world are pursuing small aircraft, which were until recently only in the realm of science fiction.
With Japanese companies already trailing their global peers in electric vehicles and self-driving cars, the government is showing urgency on the aircraft technology, stepping in to facilitate legislation and infrastructure to help gain leadership.
Many have already had a head start in the race. Uber, which is to invest 20 million euros (US$23.14 million) over the next five years to develop flying car services at a new facility in Paris, has set a goal of starting commercial operations of its air-taxi business by 2023.
Kitty Hawk, a Mountain View, California-based start-up founded and backed by Google cofounder Larry Page, in June offered a glimpse of an aircraft prototype: a single-person recreational vehicle.
Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Hiroshige Seko this month told reporters that flying cars could ease urban traffic snarls, help transportation in remote islands or mountainous areas at times of disasters, and could be used in the tourism industry.
The technology, just like aviation, would need to win approvals from several regulators, which could take many years. That would also happen only when safety standards are set by agencies, without which commuters would not embrace the flying craft.
Japan wants to take a lead in writing the rules for the nascent industry, as policymakers think that the current aviation regulations are mostly set by Europe and the US, one of the people said.
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