Flying cars have been a part of public fancy at least as far back as the 1920s, when speculative author Hugo Gernsback pictured rotor-enabled “Helicars” as a remedy to the crowded streets of New York. Now, a century later, such vehicles are poised to become the stuff of reality.

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Soon, as you look across the urban skyscape, you may see a sleek, fully autonomous “flying car,” cutting travel times for the city’s residents in half. And the name on the side of that vehicle? Honda.

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With an astounding 5% of annual revenues poured back into research and development, Honda is seriously committed to revolutionizing mobility through land and air in the spirit of the company’s tagline, “The Power of Dreams.” One such project is the Honda eVTOL, a lightweight, hybrid aircraft which literally takes autonomous mobility to the sky as part of Honda’s plans to deliver a multimodal system for consumer intercity transportation needs.

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In this episode of SAE Tomorrow Today, our guest is Shun Kawabe, Fellow, Director of New Mobility Research Division, Honda R&D Co., Ltd. in Japan. With an impressive 35-year tenure at Honda in research and development as well as an academic background in aerospace engineering, Mr. Kawabe has had an enviable career of helping technology give wing to the possible. He shares his insights on the Honda eVTOL’s ability to maximize its travel range (approximately 250 miles) thanks to its hybrid power approach via a gas turbine generator and electric battery; the role of Honda’s core technologies in such disciplines as jet engines, mass car production and Formula One to provide a wholistic approach to new concept explorations; and the importance of an engineer’s creativity and imagination to deliver new ways of mobility safely and sustainably.

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What inspired Mr. Kawabe to pursue a career in aeronautics and autonomy? As a young man, his imagination was ignited by the Honda motorcycle and by visits to the airport to watch jets takeoff. To help educate the dreamers and inventors of tomorrow, like Mr. Kawabe, Honda is invested in STEAM education initiatives – learn more by visiting http://csr.honda.com/.

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