The Swiss have been known for their outrageous yet creative innovations, and albeit pricey, they surely attract buzz from those who seek to own something fancy and exclusive. From watches to cars, it has been an intererting journey, and their latest offering goes well beyond one's imagination as they develop a Concept Car called "sQuba" which can instantly grant you the "Bond Appeal"!! Remember James Bond’s amphibious car, Lotus Esprit from "The Spy Who Loved Me", the all-in-one fictional vehicle that looked like a car on land, but when chased by bad guys in a helicopter, plunged into the water and became an airtight submarine — complete with "torpedoes" and "depth charges"!! Looks like the Swiss are about to realize your fantasy with their latest design!The concept car, named as "sQuba", was developed by Swiss designer Rinspeed Inc. and is already making a splash at the Geneva Auto Show that's going on right now. The company's 52-year old CEO Frank Rinderknecht, a self-professed Bond fan, had been waiting 30 years to recreate the car he saw Roger Moore use to drive off a dock, and has finally achived his dream! Just to let you know, this innovative company has presented transparent, flying and voice-activated cars too in previous Auto Shows!
Some of sQuba's cool features include the ability to plow through the water at a depth of 30 feet (with electrical motors to turn the underwater screw). The car has an open top, making that a convertible sports car! The open car helps if passengers need to get out to explore the aquatic wealth around, or to make a quick emergency exit! I would have felt more protected with a covered shelter when I'm in the midst of sharks and whales though, but the open top was necessary to counteract the unwanted buoyancy within water.
To enable normal breathing, the car is equipped with an integrated tank of compressed air similar to what is used in scuba diving. And if you are thinking whether this fancy underwater car can be used on land too or not - then let me tell you that the sQuba’s top speed on land is about 77 mph, but it slows down to 3 mph on the surface of the water, and 1.8 mph underwater.
So how does this underwater car work?? He removed the combustion engine from a sports car and replaced it with several electrical motors. Three are located in the rear, and one provides propulsion on land while the other two drive the screw for underwater driving. When you take the car into the water, it floats. But the moment you open the door a little to let the water in, it starts going "underwater", like a submarine! Without occupants the "sQuba" surfaces automatically. It is even capable of autonomous driving on land thanks to a sophisticated laser sensor system from the Hamburg company Ibeo - without any help from the driver!! You can get more first-hand details here.
This highly innovative concept car runs on rechargeable Lithium-Ion batteries, and is also a totally "zero-emission" vehicle! And it's not just a car, its a sports-car convertible, and can strongly be categorised as a "Green Underwater Car". Even the Motorex lubricants used in the ‘sQuba” are biodegradable!! Can you beleive that! Hats off to the designers for having thought about everything. It's truly an innovation that not only realizes a fantasy, but actually stands out in terms of creativity, planning and achievement!
