Flying cars become reality
Researchers from China are experimenting with vehicles that can hover over the roadway - with magnets that make the cars fly. A futuristic solution to the more than real problem of particulate pollution.
In China, flying cars are no longer just part of films like Harry Potter or Star Wars. But not in the way we would expect - with magical cars or ultra-modern vehicles flying between skyscrapers in distant galaxies, for example. After making great leaps forward, in China, as well as in countries such as Japan and Korea, in developing magnetic levitation for high-speed trains, scientists have now made progress in applying the magnetic system to modified passenger cars.
In recent weeks, the team of researchers from Southwest Jiaotong University, in cooperation with the state transport authority, has conducted initial road tests - and is already achieving good results. According to the Chinese news agency Xinhua, one of the tested prototypes was able to hover over a conductor rail at a speed of about 150 km/h at a height of 35 millimetres. The "flight" along the track was made possible by magnets installed on the vehicle's floor, which create the conditions for movement by levitation.
However, this was not innovation for innovation's sake. As university professor and member of the research group Deng Zigang also points out, the project has the potential to bring about real and useful change in the world of transport. The so-called Maglev technology used in the project - an abbreviation of the English term "magnetic levitation" - should simultaneously reduce the car's energy consumption and increase its range.
The levitating car could have a positive effect on operating costs and, above all, on the environment. Because the lack of contact with the road surface also eliminates the tyre abrasion that is unavoidable with all vehicles. Even the cleanest electric vehicles contribute to particulate matter due to tyre wear. By allowing them to hover over the track, driving the magnetic-flying cars would counteract this problem and lead to low emission levels.
But the project is only in its early stages, he says. Not only are some safety issues to be resolved, but the necessary infrastructure and retrofitting of the vehicles still need time to develop sufficiently for implementation. However, China is one step closer to being able to fly cars, and to do so quite sustainably, making the dreams of many cinema fans a reality.