Tel Aviv to be the site for the world’s first hover car

Hover cars are, for many people growing up, the stuff that dreams are made of. And for a long time it seemed like that’s all they would be, a dream. But now, they might be becoming a reality.

Using magnetic levitation technology, a company called SkyTran, is building a full sized suspended maglev network in Tel Aviv, Israel. Using powerful magnets, vehicles will levitate above the track and be propelled forward using the same technology.

Maglev technology uses no moving parts. Vehicles used on the SkyTran network will hover and move using electromagnets. This in turn gets rid of the friction that is usually caused between wheels and road meaning the vehicles on the network will be quite fast.

Two Seater Skytran pod

SkyTran have said that the technology will work using an app on your phone. Simply by accessing the network through the SkyTran application on their smart devices, users will be able to call up a pod and input their destination.

The company are eager to point out the benefits of the technology. Not only will the maglev travel net work be low cost and fast, it will also be a very safe system of transport.

"A two-person, secure SkyTran vehicle only lets people board that the computerized system recognizes. If power is interrupted to the network, each vehicle has enough on-board energy to safely and automatically head to the nearest station for disembarking."

Skytran have joined forces with NASA in the development and production of the project. They have stated the the 125-mile network will be completed by 2016 at a cost of $80 million.

How long before this technology makes it to your hometown? For more information click here