Hovercraft concepts we wish were real

published 17 April 2013

Volkswagen Aqua

Aqua is the brainchild of Yuhan Zhang – a 21 year old Industrial Design graduate from China. Though it was designed to handle the variable terrain of China, it wouldn't look out of place around the world thanks to the submarine-style looks and a host of great ideas, such as an emission-less hydrogen fuel cell.

Link: Video

Aerofex Tandem Duct Aerial Vehicle

Californian aerospace company Aerofex are bringing hope to millions of Star Wars fans around the world, that we may one day see a genuine speeder bike. It is also adamant that you won't be cruising down to the shops in one of these – the technology will be made available to the public sector, but sadly not the public.

Link: Aerofex | Video

Audi Shark

This award-winning concept looks like a giant coffin fish – not the most stylish Audi we've ever seen - but it's actually a two seater hover-car, of sorts. It is not a working concept, but the design won creator Kazim Doku first prize from the Italian Domus Academy.

Link: Kazim Doku | Video

BW1 hovercraft

Driving a hovercraft around your local pitch and putt seems a tad pretentious, but Bubba Watson and Oakley have teamed up to make it a reality. When you think about it, the idea makes plenty of sense. The footprint pressure of a hovercraft is 33% less than that of a human foot, so you can you casually glide your way across bunkers, water hazards and even greens without disturbing a thing.

Link: Oakley | Video

Mercier-Jones hovercraft

Cousins Michael Mercier and Chris Jones are on a mission to make hovercrafts relevant in the 21st century. With design cues from some of the finest sports cars on the roads today, this two-seater uses two side-pods for steering and a single petrol engine to provide electricity for the motors within the craft. Add in high-end materials and the Mercier-Jones Hovercraft is serious business.

Link: Mercier-Jones | Video

Pete started his fledging journalistic career covering lifestyle tech and video games for T3, before a brief sojourn in food turned into a full time career as a chef, recipe developer and editor with the likes of Great British Chefs, BBC Food and SquareMeal. Over a decade later he has come full circle, putting kitchen tech and appliances through rigorous testing for T3 once again, and eating a quite intense number of omelettes whilst testing non-stick pans. In his spare time Pete loves nothing more than squashing his size 11 feet into tiny shoes and going climbing. He also dabbles in cricket writing from time to time, and is certainly a man who knows his leg from his wicket.