Electric flying car offers a solution to heavy traffic – for HK$144 million
The electric expandable ‘carcopter’ designed by Martin Rico can be expanded at the passenger end and can even fly for a limited distance using propellers
Ever thought of jumping the queue when stuck in traffic? Industrial designer Martin Rico fulfills this fantasy with an expandable flying car to provide temporary and long-term solutions.
From his own experience, Rico complains that “parking in Buenos Aires is a mess; it takes more time to park the car than to reach the destination”.
City infrastructure may be a factor, but what makes it worse is that “car design isn’t helping”, Rico says. “It’s because people drive huge cars … Cars take up the same amount of space when they are [carrying] 1 or 5 people. They use a similar amount of gas too … Why do we need all this valuable space when it is not used?”
While a greener lifestyle could be a permanent cure by replacing cars with bicycles or motorbikes for shorter trips, Rico points out that these types of unipersonal vehicles do not offer the comfort and the amenities that a car does, and, most importantly, the option of carrying passengers.
In view of cities’ pressing needs, Rico has offered an expandable function that saves space without sacrificing convenience.
According to Rico, the futuristic vehicle EO “is an electric expandable carcopter” designed for crowded cities. It is meant to help solve the problems that have been disrupting our daily lives ever since cars started to rule the roads. While there is obviously no legislature or infrastructure in place for this invention, it’s fun to dream.
