The initiative debuted in China last year and thus far, has prompted upwards of 33 million website visitors to submit 119,000 ideas. Volkswagen’s hover car concept is the brainstorm of an apparently as-yet-unnamed girl (we figure she hasn’t been publicly identified because she’s a minor, or shy, or because Volkswagen is protecting its intellectual property or because we just can’t read Chinese) who responded to a crowd-sourcing call for ideas. Rear-mounted thrusters would propel the car forward. Real-life implantation would require electromagnetic mineral strips embedded in the roads below it, creating the hovering effect. So how does it work? The idea is based on electromagnetic suspension. Dashboard information, including speed, mileage and engine cues are displayed hologram-style. It’s operated by a center-mounted joystick. The concept is vividly illustrated in a recently released video featuring a simulated cruise through Beijing in a wheel-shaped, two-seater pod floating several feet above the road’s surface.
In a Marty-McFly-Goes-to-China moment, Volkswagen and China’s “The People’s Project” have debuted what might bring us closer than ever to that flying DeLorean we’ve all secretly pined for since the first installment of Back to the Future – that is, if it ever sees reality.
Volkswagen's hover car would work via electromagnetic suspension.
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