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Amphibious Car Beats Urban Congestion
woodhouse writes "According to BBC News, a company in the UK have just tested a fully amphibious car on the Thames river. It can travel at up to 100 miles an hour on land, and its wheels fold up to allow it to speed across water at 30mph, propelled by a jet. The company responsible, Aquada, suggest it's a good way to avoid congestion."
The concept for this car is pretty cool, but there's just something I like about riding in a converted WWII amphibious assault vehicle. They're for different markets, but I'd prefer the "Ducks" to this car.
The company responsible, Aquada, suggest it's a good way to avoid congestion.
Well, it is, if you can prove it won't pollute the waters.
BTW, I don't know how it is elsewhere, but in France, boats over a given cylinder volume require their pilot to hold a license.
Trolling using another account since 2005.
This is until the Thames gets over-crowded.
If you get into a fender-bender on the water, does it sink?
At 150,000 pounds, it doesn't seem that unreasonable.
they say you could take it on daytrips to france as it has a range of 50 miles (the english channel is 22miles long) so you can drive there, drive 6 miles, and drive back, just as long as none of the waves are bigger than foot you won't get wet (why they chose a convertible i`ll never know).
Comment: Yes I realise the username 'fuckfuck101' makes me sound intelligent, no you cannot buy it from me.
I have run a boat on the Thames for some years now and like all other boats on that river it has to obey the speed limit, a stately 4.8 MPH.
One for the marina in Monaco methinks.
Oxford Dictionaries Online
... To all the pollution in the Thames? Ok, so we don't dump raw sewage into it like in the Victorian times but I'd hardly bathe in it.
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I just watched the video on their website...I expected it to be boxy and ugly, as I would imagine a lot of compromise would have to be made to design a vehicle like this. I was pleasantly surprised to see it actually looks pretty stylish. Makes sense...the price tag is pretty hefty, so you'd have to have some serious scratch to buy one, and nobody wants to spend a few hundred grand to look like you're driving a box.
We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
I saw this on the BBC news last night.
The funny thing was (which the presenter pointed out), was that the location they had used for showing off their new toy was in front of the Millenium Dome in London - a symbol of overspending development on something no one wants to use!
Saying that, it does act like quite a good speed boat on water. The wheels fold up and the bottom of the car is shaped like a hull, so it does look quite like an average speed boat (although a rather cheap looking one) and lift up out the water at speed.
Would driving this car require a boating license at the same time.
Check your local laws on the subject. Where I live you don't need a license for small craft. Not sure how small, but 35ft doesn't need a license here.
What happens if you're pulled over by the harbor cops or something, would you have to produce some other form of licensing to drive this on water...
Where I live, the water patrol request similar things to the State Highway Patrol, except you don't need insurance on the water. You need floatation devices, flare gun, blow horn, and a few other odds and ends, even on a jet ski. Check your local laws on the subject, you may need to switch to red and green side marker lights to reflect port / starboard.
Now just think of touring France or Holland and seeing this car in action. Sure it sounds nice but does it really serve a purpose? My guess is, it won't be long until government claims only drug runners will be buying this.
The commute in Washington on puget sound would be a hell of alot better via boat then by car. Ferries are full, and the major interstates can slow down to an average of sub 10mph. Anyone working for Microsoft who has to commute cross the lake would probally buy really consider this boat rather then putting up with the traffic on the floating bridges. This is a major slowdown point and has already resulted in people choosing to go via row and paddle boat rather then waiting for the bridge to clear.
I would suspect that the target market would be people who have to commuite over bridges where a boat would offer lowest delay but you don't want to actually pay for morrage.
Er.. you're obviosly not familiar with English weather...
Forget driving through rivers, every spring for the last 5 years or so has seen major flooding on everything from back roads to town centres and motorways in the UK.
You fool! You've given cheese to a lactose intolerant volcano god! Do you know what that means?
And many more I've missed. I don't think you could call any of these inventions impractical. As for reality checks, several inventions were condemned as pointless at inception, it just goes to show you never can tell...
personally I think this amphibious car will sink without trace.
'The telephone is such a marvelously useful invention that I can see the time when every town in America will have one!' - Mayor of Chicago, some time long ago.
=#= Man, you are such a loser! Why can't you be an individual, like the rest of us?
I used to own a speedboat and I checked the speed limits on the Thames with the PLA (Port of London Authority) and Environment Agency.
Now it works like this:
Upstream of Teddington Lock, the river is considered non-tidal and is the responsibility of the Environment Agency and has an 8 knot speed limit.
Below Teddington Lock it's the PLA who are the responsible Navigation Authority and they say: No speed limit.
Yes, I was surprised.
So, yes, I could drive this car to my nearest public slipway (In Woolwich), drive it into the river and bash the waves at 30mph, drive out at Richmond and drive the rest of the way to work.
Fantastic!
In London in the swinging '60's, it was hard to spend more than a week or two without encountering an Amphicar somewhere on the road. This new product is certainly a lot less ugly.
DC traffic is horrible, and the slow rebuilding of the Wilson Bridge across the Potomac is making is even worse.
On the other hand, DC has many public marinas on the Potomac with boat ramps. There is one in Georgetown, one near National Airport, two in Alexandria, and a few in southern PG county.
Every morning, I see a disabled lady using her Segway to go to and from the a Washington, DC rail station. Sometimes when I'm waiting for a train and reading, I'll hear a quiet whizzing sound, look up, and she just went right by me! It makes Segways less of a joke to me.
Oh, and with off-road vehicles it's the torque that counts, not the BHP. The range rover, on wet grass, can out-accelerate a mercedes SLK on dry pavement. I'd like to see your Chevy Blazer do that :-P
And the reason you can buy 2-3 durangos for the price of a range rover, is that chevy cars/suvs are awful. Do they really think they look good? please don't say yes!
Obviously the SUV lobbyists have got to you, so there's no help. You probably vote republican too, so redemption is nigh-on impossible ;)
apt sig, btw.