This Hydrogen-Powered Carcopter Is A Real-Life Star Wars Podracer
With a a top speed of 155 mph.
If you’re a fellow Star Wars enthusiast, you must be familiar with the podracing event in the Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace. The good news is we might be getting closer to such events in real life. You might remember our previous coverage of a flying racing car named Airspeeder Mk3 and its parent company Alauda Aeronautics’ world-first electric flying drag race that took place in November 2020.
Now, there’s another flying race car concept in the game. French startup Maca Flight revealed a new hydrogen-powered flying race car concept at the 2022 CES and it’s remarkably similar to the podracers in the Star Wars universe.
A green flying race car concept
Called a carcopter, a portmanteau of the words car and helicopter, Maca S11 is designed for speed and sustainability. And unlike others in its class, it’s powered by a hydrogen fuel cell instead of a conventional battery. The company states that the eVTOL is priced at just over $900,000 and that it will be ready to hit the racetrack in 2023.
The Maca S11’s futuristic elements and edgy looks make the eVTOL resemble a flying F1 racer. S11 features three pairs of electric-powered rotors and six electric motors, all of which run on hydrogen. The clean-burning hydrogen fuel cells used in the eVTOL allows for longer flight times and supports green energy sustainability.
The 23 foot-long (7 m) racer has a metal chassis and a frame made of carbon, linen, and wood. With an expected top speed of 155 mph (250 kph), S11 will have a room for a single pilot. What’s more, the final product will boast multiple AI-powered detection systems to prevent any possible collisions.
While almost every aspect of our lives are going under a massive transition from the traditional to the modern, could flying race cars be the future of the near century-long tradition of the Formula 1 series?
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