If Airspeeder’s time and hard work pays off, it will perhaps show the world the future of racing . And that racing will take place in the sky. On Wednesday, the company revealed its Airspeeder Mk3 air pod racer. It’s not really a flying car, though the company does brand it as one. Nevertheless, it looks properly wild and could prove neat in the future.
Right now, it’s an unmanned vehicle that teams can control remotely, but Airspeeder wants this prototype to pave the way for manned versions in the future. That work starts this year as a racing series kicks off in Australia with an undisclosed number of teams receiving spec vehicles for racing. Next year, the company wants to put humans in them.
Right now, the machines are capable of flying at 75 mph, but it’s not clear if they’ll go even faster in the Mk4 form — that is, the manned version. What’s way cooler is the concept of the series’ “rapid pit stops,” which include a lock and slide mechanism for racers (pilots?) to land and have a pit crew swap out batteries quickly. It sounds a lot better than Formula E‘s early days, where drivers would swap cars. Batteries just aren’t ready for lengthy sessions on full racetracks.
But let’s not write this off yet. People probably thought racing cars was wild and strange when motorsport first took to racetracks. Maybe Airspeeder can create something seriously cool for the future. We’ll certainly be here to see if they do.
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