Toyota has pledged 42.5 million yen (around $375,000) over the next three years to support the development of a flying car designed to light the Olympic Flame at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
One of the founding principles of Toyota is “Monozukuri wa Hitozukuri,” which translates to “Developing people through craft of making things,” according to the press release. Belief in that principle led to the support of the project. With these funds, the team can now speed up their engineering and development processes.
“This activity is an effort to make a dream vehicle – a flying car that gives dreams which connects to the next generation, with members spending time working outside office hours,” the project’s technical leader Tsubasa Nakamura said in the statement. “Development continues daily to realize the lighting of the Olympic flame to give dreams and aspiration to people all over the world.”
The project launched in 2012 and is run by Cartivator, a volunteer team of engineers and start-up professionals, the statement added.
The company wants the first models to be released in 2025, with mass productions for developing countries by 2040. By 2050, their stated goal is to “realize the world where anyone can fly in the sky anytime.”
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