There's a reason the car is in a massive cage.

Float On

On Monday, Japanese electronics maker NEC Corp demonstrated its flying car by hovering it 10 feet off the ground for a full minute — putting Japan one step closer to its goal of being the world leader in flying vehicles.

“Japan is a densely populated country and that means flying cars could greatly alleviate the burden on road traffic," Kouji Okada, a project leader at NEC, told Bloomberg. “We are positioning ourselves as an enabler for air mobility, providing location data and building communications infrastructure for flying cars.”

Safety First

NEC spent about a year developing the battery-powered flying car alongside Japanese startup Cartivator, which plans to begin mass producing the vehicle in 2026.

During Monday's demonstration, the pair of developers enclosed the car in a large cage to ensure it wouldn't hurt anyone if it decided to go rogue. Thankfully, everything went as hoped, with the 330-pound vehicle using its four propellers to lift off the ground without incident.

The pair will now focus on working out the remaining kinks with the vehicle — but at least they know one thing for sure: the flying car can indeed fly.

READ MORE: New Japanese Flying Car Gets Off the Ground, for About a Minute [Bloomberg]

More on flying cars: Japan Wants to Be the First Place Where Flying Cars Are Standard Because of Course


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