Well, maybe get a little excited. It is a hover car, after all. 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 , ideas submitted to the project website and compiled three concepts, including the Hover Car. The Hover Car is a two-seater zero emissions vehicle that hovers above ground and travels along electromagnetic road networks. Participants were able to tinker with designs on a Web site that Volkswagen set up for that purpose , or they could upload their own designs.
Wang Jia, a student and resident of Chengdu in the country's Sichuan province , chose the latter, envisioning a two-person environmentally-friendly hover car. Jia sent sketches of a levitating car that could be maneuvered easily in a downtown setting, says Simon Loasby, head of design at Volkswagen Group China.
The VW team rounded out the design. The imaginary car stays aloft with the aid of magnetic levitation, much the way some maglev trains travel along special rails using electromagnetic suspension.
Other maglev trains use electromagnetic forces for propulsion without actually lifting the train off the ground. The Shanghai Maglev Train has been ferrying passengers since on a kilometer line between Pudong International Airport and the city's outskirts at speeds of up to kilometers per hour.
Magnets on board and in the track lift the train between eight and 12 millimeters, depending on how much electrical current is used.
What keeps maglev vehicles from gaining widespread use is the need to set up an infrastructure of electromagnetic rails and roads. They are devising ways to simplify cockpit operations, with a combination of automation and contingency management: guidelines for how a VTOL might respond to bad weather, bird strike, or sudden jetpack intruder, for example.
Already, incidents have shown the importance of these types of guidelines: in October , crewmembers on a commercial airliner near LAX airport in Los Angeles spotted a jetpack at 6, feet 1,m — an altitude that presents serious risk of collision. These specifications aim to address the unique characteristics of flying cars, and detail airworthiness standards like emergency exits, lightning protection, landing gear systems and pressurised cabins.
Clearly, the successful operation of VTOLs will require coordinated efforts across sectors, including government, technology, transportation, urban planning and public outreach. What accounts for the sudden proliferation of VTOL developers?
Global trends like the rise of e-commerce, climate change, the gig economy and an integrated supply chain have accelerated interest in personal air travel, while failures in our current infrastructure and related industries underscore its necessity. As cities like New York, Hong Kong and Beijing reach capacity, urban living becomes less and less sustainable — yet our increasingly interconnected economy demands constant mobility.
The effects could transform commuting, and living, as we know it. Owning a VTOL could become as affordable and ubiquitous as owning a bicycle. Increasing numbers of flying cars will naturally give rise to a changing layout in the way our cities are structured as cities grow taller, rooftop landings expand and air highways connect super sky-scrapers, freeing up space below.
Fewer cars on the ground will reduce congestion and may give rise to parks and green spaces. VTOLs have vast implications for the future of transport, work-life, consumption, urban design, even healthcare and ecology. As soon as , consumers might be able to press a button and order an air taxi straight to their cloud-tethered office.
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