When it comes to desirable gadgets, you can keep your iPhone, your Nintendo Wii, and your Halitosis Detector, what we really want is access to the very pinnacle in uber-cool geek-friendly equipment, the gear of choice brandished by dashing British super spy James Bond.
Swizz gadget boffins Rinspeed have created the sQuba, a fully functional submersible vehicle capable of travelling on land and under water. Credit: Rinspeed.
That said, while poison pens and watches with built in garrotte wires bezels are all well and good, the one unattainable Bond gadget that always sticks in the memory is the classic white Lotus Esprit that Roger Moore transforms from a sports car into a submarine with the press of a button in The Spy Who Loved Me.
Pull on your waterproof underpants -- for more than one reason -- and allow us to introduce you to the sQuba car, a Swiss-built piece of submersible genius that takes its inspiration from Ian Fleming’s iconic secret agent and his love for fabulous gadgetry.
“For three decades I have tried to imagine how it might be possible to build a car that can fly under water,” explained Frank Rinderknecht, CEO of Rinspeed, which will soon showcase the open-top concept vehicle at the upcoming Geneva Motorshow. “Now we have made this dream come true.”
Built in collaboration with Esoro, a Swiss engineering outfit, Rinspeed outlines that it was a truly difficult task to make a car watertight and pressure resistant to handle underwater manoeuvres, but that the resulting sQuba ably overcomes such obstacles and is able to maintain “stable flight” while submerged to a depth of 10 metres.
When on land -- oh yes, the sQuba isn’t just a submersible -- the vehicle is powered by a single electric motor, while two others combine to provide power when the car is taken under water. The electric motors are supplemented by a pair of Seabob jet drives located in the front of the vehicle, while occupants are able to dodge death-by-drowning thanks to an integrated tank of compressed air.
Also boasting autonomous driving technology courtesy of Germany company Ibeo, the sQuba also arrives as an environmentally aware creation that strives for zero emissions thanks to its motors being powered by rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery cells.
Verdict? Cool. We. Want. One… or maybe two.
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