Many people visualise a future where they zoom about a flying car, and Toyota seems to want in on that future.
The Japanese carmaker has submitted patent applications for a shape-changing fuselage for an aero car. According to the application, Toyota wants to create “a vehicle that can be both driven on the road in a land mode and take off, fly, and land as an aircraft in a flight mode”.
Though filed back in December 2014 by the car giant, the application was only made public by the US Patent and Trademark Office this year.
What makes this patent interesting, though, is that instead of a hatchback or coupe-style design, the flying car will make use of a propeller on its back, implying that it will operate with a rear motor. When in land mode, the wings will be covered underneath the body panels, hence the shape-changing fuselage.
The application states that “existing aero cars include wings used during the flight mode that are designed to fold against the fuselage in the land mode. Storing wings in such a manner can subject the wings to damage, reduce fuel economy, and limit operator aft and side views in the land mode”.
Of course, it’s unlikely that these flying cars will be soaring above our heads any time soon. Toyota says it does not comment on future products, but applications for future mobility ideas are routinely made. Of the 1 636 currently held by Toyota, one is for another aero car designed to have stackable wings.
Toyota is also not the only company planning for future air travel. Slovakian firm Aeromobil has plans to launch its “flying roadster” as early as 2017, while Google co-founder Larry Page has been working on two aero car projects – Zeeaero and Kitty Hawk – since 2010.
