(VW)
America is about to get its first ‘flying car’ of the 21st Century, in the form of the Terrafugia Transition road-legal aircraft, but it’s got nothing on China’s Hover Car.
Designed by a contestant in Volkswagen’s People’s Car Project, the disk-shaped, two-seat pod floats above the ground on an electromagnetic field generated by a special road surface.
The driver uses a joystick shaped like a small version of the vehicle to control it, allowing it to move side to side, forward and back and spin on its axis for ultimate maneuverability in a crowded urban environment.
Automated safety features monitor the Hover Car’s surroundings and can take control if a potential accident is detected.
Of course, unlike the very real Transition, the Hover Car is only a fanciful concept, though one based on sound, if very advanced, science and engineering.
Until the future arrives, you can get a taste of what it is like in the rather believable video below.