Electric cars and boats, as well as the upcoming flying taxis, aim to shape the future of electric-powered mass transportation. For some actors in the sustainable mobility sector, the challenge now is to plan a network of aerial vehicles with battery-powered engines that respond to the needs of people living in marine territories, who need to move with the least investment of time. and possible money.
In this sense, the North American company Regent is willing to revolutionize coastal and inter-island maritime air transport with an innovative electric seaplane, half boat and half plane, capable of navigating, gliding or flying without emissions.
The Viceroy, which is what this ecological seaplane is called, has a capacity to transport up to 12 passengers and is expected to begin offering commercial services in 2025. It has a flight or navigation range of 296 kilometers on a single charge, expandable to more than 740 kilometers with the next generation of batteries.
The maximum speed it reaches is 290 km/h and it has been built using cutting-edge technology and a highly aerodynamic design. Breaking through as a new type of vehicle, this futuristic machine operates in three modes (sailing, hydrofoil and airplane), and uses conventional ship controls and advanced flight software.
Its operation is very intuitive: start the trip by setting sail from the port dock as if it were a boat. From there, she begins to gain speed in the water so she can rise on her hydrofoil (an innovative maritime technology). Once it reaches the open sea, the seaplane retracts its fin-shaped lower gear and takes flight, accelerating until reaching cruising speed.
It is the first electric vehicle intended, at the same time, to be able to ride the waves of the sea thanks to its boat fins and to be suspended in the air and fly using its airplane wings. Regent seeks to distribute this type of vehicle in all coastal communities around the world with the idea of covering a market niche that until now did not have the appropriate means of transportation to meet the needs of its population.
The Rhode Island-based company plans to introduce an advanced version of the new seaplane called Monarch later this decade. This will have a huge capacity for 100 passengers along with a range of 800 kilometers.
More than 500 units of the Viceroy have already been sold (in pre-sale mode) worldwide for a value of more than eight billion euros to airlines and ferry operators. The first production seaplane will be delivered to the airline company Southern Airways, which will operate in Hawaii under its Mokulele Airlines brand.
In the video that accompanies this article (starting at the 55th second) you can see one of the first flights of the prototype, which will begin large-scale aerial tests with passengers next year.
