Strange vehicles: Volkswagen Aqua

The Volkswagen Aqua is a futuristic hovercraft concept created by Yuhan Zhang, a 21 year old designer from China. Yuhan just graduated with honors from Xihua University with a degree in Industrial Design. Currently she's in the process of selecting a Transportation Design course to further her studies.

The Volkswagen Aqua is designed to cope with the wide variety of terrain which covers China. From the lakes, rivers and coastal waters, to the roads, wetlands and snow and ice. The concept was shortlisted in the CDN Car Design Awards China, based on the brief entitled simply; "Chinese off-road vehicle" by Volkswagen.

Like most hovercraft, the Volkswagen Aqua uses more than one engine. The primary motor, which is powered by a hydrogen fuel cell, is used to drive the main fan which inflates the skirt around the vehicle and raises the Aqua just above the ground. The fans at the rear of the vehicle are powered by individual electric motors to provide forward thrust and directional control.

The styling of the Volkswagen Aqua is extremely clean and simple. There's very little clutter to the lines, except perhaps at the rear due to the quartet of fans. The interior has room for two people, and features a similar minimalist vibe as the exterior.

Perhaps our only area of concern is with how you actually enter the vehicle. See that small round hatch at the rear of the vehicle, the one located where the rear window would normally be? That's your one and only door.

Source: diseno-art