It might take a few decades till we get to see flying cars and sci-fi hovercrafts, but this does not mean that we’re not allowed to dream. This hydrogen-electric hybrid VW hovercraft will need some time to become reality.
When I first saw the pictures of this concept, I thought that it could bear any other name, just as well, but then I realized that its front is designed very much in the spirit of the VW cars. In fact, it looks a bit like the new Scirocco.
The designer of this concept is the remarkably young 21-year-old industrial design graduate Yuhan Zhang. According to him, “Aqua is based on the customized subject “Chinese off-road vehicle” by Volkswagen.
The Aqua offers an insight of futuristic vehicle powered by hydrogen and propelled by impeller.
Aqua functions with several engines, the main one drives the fan (or impeller) under the chassis, which is responsible for lifting the vehicle by forcing high pressure air under the craft. The air inflates the “skirt” under the vehicle, causing it to rise above the surface. Additional engines provide thrust in order to propel the craft.
Aqua interprets the philosophy of Volkswagen Design with no single parting-line and laconic appearance, The door (hatch) locates on the back of Aqua. It features an electric drive train powered by a hydrogen fuel cell with no pollutant emissions.”
Electric cars have not even taken off in many countries and here we are talking about hydrogen-electric hybrids. I am sure that such an engine would be very efficient and would constitute a delight for greenheads, but I do not see it coming anytime soon. After all, oil companies still want to make some serious money from their business.
Such a hovercraft, despite not offering more space than the typical car, would be the perfect mean of transport in certain areas. For example, it would make crossing the English Channel a breeze, thus getting from southern England to northern France or the other way around in a matter of minutes. Of course, all this provided that the engine would be powerful enough to assure a reasonably high speed.
The above video includes preliminary sketches, as well as images of how the final concept would look like in various settings. VW Aqua Hovercraft would do also do great in island countries or in countries with hundreds of lakes.
If you liked this post, please check the DeLorean hovercraft project and the Hover Q R/C hovercraft.
