A hoverbike manufactured by a Japanese startup made its US debut at the Detroit Auto Show, drawing perhaps inevitable comparisons to the speeder bikes of “Star Wars.”
The XTURISMO flying bike is made by Japanese startup AERWINS Technologies and can fly for 40 minutes, reaching speeds of up to 62 miles per hour (100 kph).
The clip shared by news agency Reuters on Twitter shows a person taking off the bike and manoeuvring it mid-air.
This is the world’s first flying bike. The XTURISMO hoverbike is capable of flying for 40 minutes and can reach speeds of up to 62 mph pic.twitter.com/ZPZSHJsmZm
— Reuters (@Reuters) September 16, 2022
Netizens are speechless over the video showing the bike hovering and landing after its flight.
“I feel like I’m literally 15 years old and I just got out of ‘Star Wars’ and jumped on their bike,” said Thad Szott, co-chair of the auto show after taking a test drive – or, perhaps, a test hover.
The flying bike is already on sale in Japan, and Shuhei Komatsu, founder and CEO of AERWINS, said plans were underway to sell a smaller version in the United States in 2023.
The price? A galactic $777,000 – although Komatsu said the company hopes to get the cost down to $50,000 for a smaller, electric model by 2025.
