As if cars hurtling around a track at 200 miles an hour wasn't exciting enough, Maca Flight is taking our need for speed to a new level.
The French startup wants racing to reach new heights — literally. Earlier this year, the company showed off its flying, hydrogen-powered racecar concept.
The Star 11, named S11 for short, is a 16-foot-long flying racecar that will have an expected top speed of 155 miles per hour. The concept car sports six engines, low-noise propellors, and a semi-auto pilot function.
This "carcopter" is expected to retail at $573,000, as reported by Interesting Engineering. For perspective, this is around the upper end of a standard NASCAR car's cost, according to MotorRacingSports.
Maca Flight is racing toward some pretty lofty goals, as the company wants to make a vehicle that is both spectacular and more sustainable than traditional racecars. The concept comes as both Formula 1 and NASCAR have been under scrutiny for their environmental impacts, which they've been making some efforts to improve in recent years.
The S11 will run on green hydrogen, a highly efficient fuel created with renewable energy sources like wind or solar power. This means the car will run without producing planet-warming carbon pollution, much like the futuristic flying eVTOLs that have also gained traction in recent years.
Traditionally, hydrogen fuel is often created through electrolysis, where electricity is run through water to separate its hydrogen atoms from its oxygen atoms. The hydrogen can then be collected and burned to create energy or can be stored in a tank until it's turned into electricity by a fuel cell.
There are many ways to produce hydrogen, with some being much less environmentally damaging than others. But when the S11 eventually gets off the ground, Maca Flight will use green hydrogen to significantly lower its vehicle's emissions.
Meanwhile, another company, Airspeeder, recently launched the world's first crewed racing series for electric flying cars.
So we could soon see a future where competitive flying car races are aired live on TV.
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