Rinspeed

Deeper Look Into Rinspeed’s sQuba

The sQuba is expected to be the first real submersible car, so says Rinspeed boss Frank M. Rinderknecht. Though other military vehicle can travel underwater, the unique design and engineering of the sQuba allows the vehilce to move like a ‘fish’ even at depth of 10 meters. Rinderknecht added:

It is undoubtedly not an easy task to make a car watertight and pressure resistant enough to be maneurable under water. The real challenge however was to create a submersible car that moves like a fish in the water.

The vision is now a reality with the introduction of the sQuba.

For this sports car to work, the combustion engine was removed and then replaced with several electric motors. There will be three motors at the rear of the car- the first motor is tasked to provide propulsion on land and the other two are tasked to drive the screws for underwater motoring.  These motors are supported by two Seabob jet drives.

The power that will drive the sQuba under water will be coming from the rechargeable Lithium-Ion  batteries.

The sQuba is a zero-emission car as documented by the rotating license plate in the rear. It produces no exhaust emissions. The Swiss are among the world’s pioneers in the area of hydropower. The sQuba’s filling station is the reservoir. It is no surprise that the vehilce features powerful yet energy-saving LED lighting technology, added Rinderknecht.

The Rinspeed sQuba is an unusual car, but this is not suprising coming from a James Bond fan.

Out Of This Land Car! Well, Literally.

The Geneva motor show that started this week showcased a number of cars with different designs and styles, others are innovations, some are small and other retains the bulk. There are a number of cars as well that was designed to meet growing demands for ‘greener cars’. In short, it was all business yet again and almost all cars exuded confidence, style and seriousness. Well almost. Automotive shows will not be complete without the entry of concept cars, cars that may be seem weird now but may be feasible in the near future- or may be not. While I was bloghopping I took note of some of the news and posts about the on-going Geneva motor show and these concept cars/weird cars caught my fancy. These cars provide some form of relief. The reactions may be varied, of amusement or bewilderment and I am one of those who find these cars ‘refreshing’. One such car in the Geneva show is the Rinspeed sQuba. From the name of the model itself, you will find contextual clues as to what is unique to this sports car by Rinspeed. Read on.

The Rinspeed sQuba Concept

Take a good look at the picture.

Now from the looks of it, it seems that the Rinspeed sQuba vehicle is underwater.  Your eyes is not fooling you. The car is indeed underwater and this picture was released by the Swiss car maker Rinspeed. The picture shows people aboard the Rinspeed car and this Rinspeed model was unveiled at the Geneva motor show just this week. This model is supposedly the world’s first real submersible car. Another cool thing about this Rinspeed model is that this sQuba concept is a zero-emission electric sports car and that its power is supplied by rechargeable Lithium-Ion batteries.  And it is expected that this sports car can perform a submerged stable flight at a depth of 10 meters. Whoa.

So this car will be useful on flooded and flood-prone areas. Sounds good. Since the press release pictures show that the Rinspeed sQuba is underwater, some of you will soon ask if this car was indeed inside the tank when unveiled. Nope, to compensate for the lack of ‘water’ or ‘beach’,  a fake beach front was re-created inside the show room.

This sports car looks cute but then we have to ask, is this feasible? Will someone do his driving in the beach front and drive into the water? Kidding aside, this is one cool concept and I would’nt mind driving this one and no, not towards the seas.