uncoolcat t1_jbhgcex wrote on March 9, 2023 at 1:47 AM

This lacks wheels, so by definition it shouldn't be considered a "motorbike" or a "bike" by itself. It's a hoverbike.

The article states that it "runs on electricity", which feels a little misleading because it is powered by both batteries and an internal combustion engine.

Anyway, it's an interesting product, but with as loud as these very likely are I dread the idea of them screaming through residential areas.

BBTB2 t1_jbhs1wx wrote on March 9, 2023 at 3:15 AM

They just came out with some new propeller designs that are pretty quiet… for water. Fluid engineering says this should, at some point, be applicable to above-water propeller tech.

nonameworks t1_jbhwsnp wrote on March 9, 2023 at 3:54 AM

You’re mixing things up. There are commercial toroidal propellers for boats, they have been in production for years, but cost $5000 each.

MIT recently developed toroidal propellers that they demonstrated with a quad rotor drone. No reason they couldn’t be scaled up to fit this. But the question is will they, not can they.

BBTB2 t1_jbhz5pt wrote on March 9, 2023 at 4:15 AM

I thought they weren’t really produced until a couple years ago.

Also apparently MIT (of course) is already trying them on air-based drones: https://newatlas.com/aircraft/toroidal-quiet-propellers/

selphfourgiveness t1_jbhs54m wrote on March 9, 2023 at 3:16 AM

I don’t like the number of vehicles we have on the roads now; the thought of our airspace filled with hover bikes and flying cars (or whatever term we might apply to personal flying vehicle) really turns my stomach. Imagine hardly being able to look up and just see the sky in many areas? Gross.

And yeah, the noise, too.