The idea of driving a vehicle that can be completely submerged underwater seems like the stuff of fantasy – but then it wasn’t that long ago that we’d have said the same thing about many of the modern day’s green cars.
So perhaps it’s no surprise that the sub-aqua car is making a comeback – and it has a touch of the green about it too.
The new fully submersible car, inspired by James Bond and updated for the new millennium, is the Rinspeed sQuba, which has been invented by Swiss car designer Frank M Rinderknecht.
The vehicle has many of the hallmarks of the Lotus Esprit which appeared in the 1977 Bond movie The Spy Who Loved Me and is capable of driving both on land and in water – potentially as deep as ten metres.It was released as a prototype last year and is carbon neutral as it is emissions-free and uses electric motors and water jets to allow the driver to control the vehicle underwater. It also has a compressed air tank allowing occupants to breathe underwater, while all of the bodywork is water-tight and water resistant.
According to Mr Rinderknecht, it has been perceived as a prototype, but commercial production is not out of the question if anyone is willing to take up the project.
