Sea Bubbles: flying taxis testing in May-June 2018

Paris trips Sea Bubbles up. These flying taxis, that are said to be tested on the Seine river by late September, will finally be tested in Paris in May-June 2018 and aim at making the Seine river a common means of transport so that you can cross the city of lights in less than 15 minutes!

Bertrand Lambert, Sea Bubbles inventor, announces to be able to navigate the Seine in May-June this year. The famous flying taxis have already been successfully tested last June.

For the record, initially planned for late September, Sea Bubbles testing have been postponed because of technical and regulatory constraints. On the one hand to improve the system enabling to make the driving available to everyone and on the other hand for speed issues. Actually, these machines can “fly” at a maximum speed of 32mph and cannot reduce it. Yet, the Seine limited speed is set at 7.5mph in the city center and 11.2mph outside. According to Voies Navigables de France (Navigable Waterways of France), a steadfast speed promises a great deal of discussions.

Finally, after months of negotiations, Alain Thébault, helped by Paris Authorities and the Ministry of Transport, is finally being authorized to navigate or "fly" at a speed of 15.53 mph. The green light has just been given by the region prefect, Michel Cadot.

This new testing will be open to the public this time and last 2 months. Let's fly over the Seine!

Called “Sea Bubbles”, these flying boats seem to come straight from sci-fi movies. Able to accommodate up to 4 passengers and one pilot, this new means of circulating is electric and rather simple to use.

In concrete terms, how does it work? Under each machine, there are wings propelled by two electric motors. When started up, they take off and lift but they still touch the water. Notwithstanding, the rubbing is reduced by 40% in comparison with a boat hull.

These “flying” boats will be tested very soon, and Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo says “This is far from being anecdotal. Sea Bubble will be a means of transport that potentially embodies the future taxi service on the Seine River, I think”.

If everything goes as planned, five to ten Sea Bubbles should be in use and available as experimental fluvial taxis so that they can cross Paris in less than 15 minutes.

Here’s what the charging station will look like:

If Paris will be the first city in the world to try these Sea Bubbles, other great cities crossed by rivers are interested, like Geneva for example.

So, what do you think of these Sea Bubbles?

For more information, check out Sea Bubble official website!

Sea Bubbles: flying taxis testing in May-June 2018

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