You know those large cushy air balls that you get inside of and roll down a hill, just for fun? That is not necessarily what you might picture as a hovercraft. However, a concept for one of the most basic, affordable vehicles that everyone can afford is a hover car that looks just like that. The idea resulted from the People’s Car Project that Volkswagen launched in China last year.
Volkswagen, which translates to “people’s car” in English, challenged China residents to submit their ideas of what the car of the future should look like. The company sifted through more than 119,000 ideas submitted to the project website which ultimately resulted in the development of three concepts, including the Hover Car.
The Hover Car is a two-seater zero-emissions vehicle that hovers above the ground and travels along electromagnetic road networks. It can detect other vehicles on the road while navigating through China’s congested traffic centers and its small footprint makes it physically easy to park and ecologically pleasing to the environment.
Electromagnetic highways where vehicles can be operated autonomously and continuously powered have been explored by other automotive designers. Stanford researchers are working on electric highway technology that could solve the wireless-charging part of the equation and it’s only a matter of time until we’re all enjoying the ride as a self-driving car chauffeurs us around. So maybe the Hover Car isn’t so far-fetched after all. There is some push and shove in thought when it comes to the idea of hovercrafts and flying cars becoming a reality (like the Jetsons!). Some favor one over the other, with various reasoning. It seems that there may be a slew of these types of cars available – similar to the end of the 20th century when vehicles branched out from cars and trucks to include SUVs and hatchbacks, and then within those categories hybrids and electrics. Whether or not such a vehicle could be affordable enough for the masses is the real question.
