• 19 Dec 2023 06:25 PM
• 0

SkyDrive Moves Forward in Japan, US

SkyDrive announced on Oct. 16 that Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) had awarded it an innovation grant valued at 12.4B yen ($86.5M). METI selected the Toyota-city, Japan-based eVTOL developer for its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase III award in its “Next-Generation Air Mobility Field” project. SkyDrive intends to use the funds to accelerate its efforts to develop its SD-05 eVTOL aircraft.

On Nov. 7, SkyDrive announced that Kansai Electric Power Company (KEPCO) would install and operate electric charging facilities for eVTOL aircraft in Osaka, Japan, for the 2025 World Expo. KEPCO will install the first chargers at SkyDrive’s Flight Test Facility by the end of 2023; future installations will occur at a planned eVTOL vertiport on Yumeshima Island for the Expo.

Meanwhile, on Nov. 8, SkyDrive said that it had formally established its US subsidiary, SkyDrive America Inc., located in Beaufort, South Carolina. The plans to establish the SkyDrive unit were announced at the Vertical Flight Society’s 10th Annual eVTOL Symposium in January 2022, and incorporated in September. And, on Dec. 4, SkyDrive relocated its development base to Nagoya Airport. The company’s headquarters remains in Toyota-city, which is situated near Nagoya.