This epic creation is a tri-motor hybrid hovercraft

Thursday, 2 September 2021

The Arosa may look like it has wheels, but those big circles are fans.

While electric vehicles are slowly taking over the land and the skies remain free of consumers flying their VTOL flying cars, some people are also trying to take advantage of the abundance of water. Case in point - this hybrid, supercar-styled hovercraft.

It has been under development by VonMercier since 2014, called the Arosa. It uses a cushion of air to traverse land and water easily. The skirt is inflated by two side-mounted fans in the place of where the front wheels might live, which are in turn powered by an intricate powertrain.

According to the website, a petrol engine is used to generate electricity for the three independent electric motors of the drive system. The motors enable “fine-tuned controlled thrust,” while a battery pack is used to hold reserve power for quick boosts in performance.

The engine is isolated from the cockpit and outside environment to reduce noise and pollution levels.

It doesn't go into detail regarding how it actually works, although VonMercier claims the Arosa is the most manoeuvrable personal hovercraft in the world. A patented directional control system enables forward, lateral and reverse directional control, along with “intuitive pilot inputs”.

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Expect a cruising range of nearly 200km, although driving it on the road might attract some unwanted attention.

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You can even bring a friend, who sits directly behind the pilot.

According to some numbers from way back in 2015, it can cruise at 64kmh for up to 193km at a time, with a maximum speed of 120kmh. Not bad, though you might want to pack a few jerry cans if you want to really explore the shoreline.

There’s a good chance these figures have been improved but all the juicy stats are hidden in a members-only section of the website, likely for pre-order holders.

There is the small issue of getting it road registered though, as it’s not technically a car.

VonMercier wants to build 60 Arosas, each starting at US$75,000 (NZ$106,366.50). That’s a fair bit for what is essentially a novelty, although it would be a huge amount of fun…