See The First Flying Bike Designed Just Like Star Wars Landspeeders
A company called Aerwins has created the first ever flying bike, which looks like the land speeder from Star Wars.
The Star Wars franchise is home to a number of iconic technologies that fans have fantasized about. Although most fans first think of the lightsaber as Star Wars‘ signature technological device, another one is closer to becoming a reality. According to the website of the company Aerwins, it has produced the XTURISMO, a flying bike that in many ways resembles the iconic Star Wars vehicle. Check out one of the first looks at the XTURISMO flying bike in the promotional video from Aerwin below:
The video uses pulsing techno music to highlight the bike’s sleek facade. The video flaunts the bike’s capabilities by featuring a rider zipping around over a body of water in front of a scenic Mt. Fuji backdrop.
The XTURISMO flying bike made its U.S. debut in Detriot at the North American Auto Show. Aerwins also sells drones, as well as drone software and cloud solutions. The company’s website professes that the XTURISMO flying bike was created to “Pioneer the next generation of transport.”
The XTURISMO has many similarities to Star Wars‘ landspeeder from George Lucas’ renowned space opera franchise. The landspeeder first appeared in Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope as a vehicle capable of hovering aboveground and propelling riders at high speed. The landspeeder used a “repulsor lift engine” which gave it the ability to float.
Its design resembled a unique cross between a speed boat, a race car, and a motorbike. Luke Skywalker iconically owned an X-34 landspeeder, although there were a number of models in the Star Wars universe. The landspeeder became an intriguing technology for fans, and Lego even released a toy version of Luke’s Landspeeder.
Their mission and vision use some admittedly vague language. They mention that their mission is to “Establish the Theory,” and to “change society without being bound by conventional thinking.” Their vision is to “change the structure of society from the top down,” The company continues.
“Through constantly pursuing and implementing new technologies, we, as a global company that is leading the air mobility revolution by providing infrastructure that enables anyone to use the airspace safely, securely, and conveniently, will make great contributions to society.”
This language is intriguing, and a bit mysterious. Fortunately, the website does list the specs for the XTURISMO flying bike. It uses a combination of Internal Combustion and an electric Battery as its power source. The website lists its weight as 300 kg, a length of 3.7m, an overall width of 2.4m, and an overall height of 1.5m.
Impressively, the website lists its max between 80-100 km, but with a max range of only about 40 km.
If the specs haven’t whet readers’ appetites, the promotional video for the XTURISMO flying bike might do the trick. It showcases the bike in action, and many viewers believe that the technology is just as cool in real life as its sci-fi counterpart.
Although an intriguing concept, one of the biggest drawbacks is the current price of the XTURISMO flying bike. At $550,000, the XTURISMO flying bike isn’t exactly in a feasible price range for the average person. With a max ride length of only about 40 minutes, it also doesn’t seem like a practical technology for most people in need of transportation.
The XTURISMO’s price range and its limited travel capabilities make it more of a fascinating experiment than a technology with immediate widescale practical usage. Still, the XTURISMO flying bike and the Star Wars landspeeder certainly are similar, and fans of the Star Wars franchise should keep this technology on their radar. For now, owning a hoverbike might still be a pipe dream for most, but we are moving closer and closer to having it become a reality.
