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The realization of a drone that people can ride is "just around the corner"!
Honda's manned drone eVTOL
Mr. Toshihiro Mibe, who became the new president of Honda Motor Co., Ltd. in 2021, became a hot topic when he declared at a practical inaugural press conference that the four-wheel lineup would be fully electrified by 2040. At the press conference, it also declared that Honda's product lineup would be expanded to "3D, 4D". Even if it is said to be 4D, there is no reality, and there are many people who can only think of Doraemon's 4D pocket. [Photo] From eVTOL, a drone that you can ride, to Avatar Robo for medical use! What is Honda's vision for the future? I was blessed with the opportunity to cover "New Area Vision Technology", which gives me a glimpse of that. Here, I would like to introduce Honda's new technology shown there. In conclusion, as a mobility company, Honda aims to be a company that meets all the elements that people demand for mobility. As you know, Honda is a comprehensive mobility company that provides marine business such as outboard motors such as motorcycles, automobiles and buggies, HondaJet, and means of transportation by land, sea and air. However, such Honda does not cover all areas. For example, in the United States, it is said that the transportation method is used properly with the image of using a car if it is 400 km or less and an aircraft if it is 400 km or less, with a distance of 400 km as a guide. However, it takes more than 3 hours to estimate 400km by car. Honda thought that it would be possible to create needs by creating new mobility that can move the car faster than the car by limiting the movement of the car to about 100 km and moving in the area of 100 to 400 km faster than the car. That mobility is eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft) equipped with a gas turbine engine. With eight horizontally installed propellers and two vertical propellers, eVTOL is shaped like a drone, but all propellers are electrified and technically the masterpiece of the drone. However, since Honda is a mobility company, it is assumed to be a size that people can ride. However, it is very difficult to earn a cruising range by electric power. When it comes to aircraft, weight reduction is an important factor, and it is not possible to increase the battery capacity unnecessarily. Therefore, Honda decided to install a small and lightweight gas turbine engine and generator in the center of a lightweight carbon body, and to fly eVTOL with its electric power. This makes it possible to have a cruising range of up to about 400km as described above. It could be a new mobility link between cars and conventional aircraft. Since vertical takeoff is possible, there is an advantage that the hub, which is the airport of eVTOL, can be miniaturized. Furthermore, in the future, by fully autopiloting both the car and eVTOL, if you set the destination on your smartphone, the car that came to your home will lead you to the eVTOL hub, and you will get on the self-driving car again from the hub near the destination. It is said that it is also considering a comprehensive system such as. Due to the well-developed train network in Japan, it may be more convenient to use the Shinkansen as a means of transportation within 400 km, but in North America, which is the initial target, and in the rapidly developing Asian region, eVTOL and fully autonomous vehicles are combined. Mobile services have great potential. Moreover, this is not a dream story. Flight experiments using models have already been conducted, and it is a project that is proceeding with a schedule of expanding business in the United States in the 2030s at the earliest. EVTOL, which flies lower than conventional aircraft, is the new three-dimensional mobility that President Mibe said.
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