Subaru Air Mobility Concept (concept design)

(Image credit: Subaru)

Land-and-Air (concept design)
Subaru
Ebisu, Shibuya, Japan
www.subaru.co.jp

Founded on July 15, 1953 in Japan, Subaru is a automobile manufacturing division of the Japanese transportation conglomerate Subaru Corporation (formerly known as Fuji Heavy Industries). Fuji Heavy Industries traces its roots to the Nakajima Aircraft Company (founded in 1918 in Tokyo, Japan), a leading supplier of airplanes to the Japanese government during World War II. Fuji Heavy Industries was incorporated on July 15, 1953. Subaru Corporation's aerospace division is a defense contractor to the Japanese government, manufacturing training aircraft, Boeing 777 and Boeing 787 center wings and Boeing and Lockheed Martin helicopters, airplanes and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) under license. Fuji Heavy Industries changed its name to Subaru Corporation on April 1, 2017.

Subaru announced their entry into the passenger electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) industry for advanced air mobility (AAM) with their Air Mobility Concept mock-up at the Japan Mobility Show 2023, October 26-November 5, 2023, held at the Tokyo Big Sight (officially known as the Tokyo International Exhibition Center) in Tokyo, Japan.

https://www.bigsight.jp/

Air Mobility Concept passenger eVTOL multicopter concept design aircraft
The Air Mobility Concept is a two passenger eVTOL multicopter concept design and trade show mock-up aircraft. The aircraft holds one pilot, one passenger and their luggage. If the aircraft has remote piloting or is piloted by artificial intelligence (AI), then the aircraft would carry two passengers and their luggage. While the mock-up was made at full-scale, it is not a working aircraft.

While almost no specifications were revealed by Subaru, the company did confirm that their concept design aircraft was designed to be fully electric and would be able to takeoff and land in confined areas. The mock-up has six ducted propellers, six electric motors and would be powered by battery packs. The concept design has front and rear navigation lights like a car, white in the front and red in the back. Even though navigation lights usually have a rear white light. There are also left (port) and right (starboard) navigation lights respectively, red and green.

The mock-up has a canopy over the cockpit. For an actual prototype or production model, the fuselage would be made from carbon fiber composite for a high strength to low weight ratio. The length of the mock-up is approximately six meters (~19 feet, 8-1/4 inches) and the width is approximately 4.5 meters (14 feet, 9-1/4 inches). The concept design does not show what type of landing gear the designers had in mind.

The safety features include distributed electric propulsion (DEP) which means that having multiple propellers and multiple electric motors increases the redundancy on the aircraft. If one two propellers or electric motors stop working, the remaining propellers or electric motors will land the aircraft safely. There are also redundancies of critical components in the sub-systems of the aircraft providing safety through redundancy. Having multiple redundant systems on any aircraft decreases having any single point of failure. The aircraft has no moving surfaces or tilting parts when transitioning from vertical to forward flight and the reverse which increases safety by reducing complexity.

Subaru has also disclosed they are using six safety procedures in aircraft collision avoidance and these include constantly checking for potential obstacles, detecting aircraft (including drones), taking evasive maneuvers, confirming if other aircraft are approaching, returning to the original route and proceeding along that particular route.

Subaru is working with aerospace engineers to have a functioning technology demonstration aircraft.

Specifications:

• Aircraft type: Passenger eVTOL concept design aircraft
• Piloting: 1 pilot
• Capacity: 1 passenger (or 2 passengers if the aircraft has remote, autopilot or AI piloting)
• Estimated cruise speed: Unknown
• Maximum payload weight: Unknown but the maximum payload weight is probably estimated to be 161 kg (400 lb) range
• Propellers: 6 ducted propellers
• Electric motors: 6 electric motors
• Power source: Batteries
• Fuselage: Carbon fiber composite
• Length: ~6 m (~19 ft, 8-1/4 in)
• Width: ~4.5 m (~14 ft, 9-1/4 in)
• Window: Canopy over cockpit
• Landing gear: Fixed or retractable landing gear
• Safety features: Distributed electric propulsion (DEP) means having multiple propellers (or electric ducted fans) and multiple electric motors on an aircraft so if one or more propellers (or electric ducted fans) or some electric motors fail, the other working propellers (or electric ducted fans) and electric motors can safely land the aircraft. DEP provides safety through redundancy for passengers or cargo. There are also redundancies of critical components in the sub-systems of the aircraft providing safety through redundancy. Having multiple redundant systems on any aircraft decreases having any single point of failure. The aircraft has no moving surfaces or tilting parts when transitioning from vertical to forward flight and the reverse which increases safety by reducing complexity.

Related Aircraft:

• Subaru Land-and-Air (concept design)

Company Insights:

• Crunchbase
• MarketWatch
• Pitchbook

Resources:

• Subaru website
• Subaru Facebook
• Subaru X (formerly Twitter)
• Subaru Instagram
• Subaru YouTube Channel
• Article: Subaru Air Mobility Concept Is a Flying Subie, Autoweek, Oct. 26, 2023
• Article: Subaru Concepts at Tokyo Aim to Conquer Land—and Sky?, MotorTrend, Oct. 26, 2023
• Article: Subaru Air Mobility Amazes Attendees at Japan’s Mobility Show 2023, eVTOL Insights, Nov. 7, 2023
• Article: It’s A Bird, It’s A Plane, No, Subaru Now Has A Flying Car!, Forbes, Nov. 23, 2023
• Article: How Did Subaru Become The Global Standard For Drone Safety?, Forbes, July 30, 2024