https://arynews.tv/en/noiseless-river-bubble-taxi-sails-paris-test/
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Noiseless river ‘bubble’ taxi sails through Paris test
By AFP
Posted on June 16, 2017
PARIS: An odd-looking electric boat taxi whose inventor believes it
could be an eco-friendly transport solution for cities worldwide was put
to the test in Paris for the first time Friday.
The brainchild of French yachtsman Alain Thebault, the aerodynamic Sea
Bubble made no noise and no waves as it took a star turn on the River
Seine with Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo aboard.
“It was a perfect flight,” Thebault, 54, said after putting the
prototype through its paces between the Eiffel Tower and the Musee d’Orsay.
The white craft skimmed about half a metre (20 inches) over the Seine,
executing turns while pausing occasionally to yield to passing ducks.
“It’s quiet, comfortable and fun,” said Hidalgo, who has backed the
project from the start and hopes it will provide an eco-friendly
alternative for getting around the French capital within four years.
The boat is similar to a hydrofoil, with fibreglass foils that deploy to
hoist it into the air, powered by electric batteries, and capable of
reaching the maximum allowed speed of 18 kilometres (11 miles) per hour.
“It works like the wings of an airplane in the air. After it reaches a
certain speed the Bubble lifts off,” Thebault said.
A Sea Bubble means “zero noise, zero waves and zero (carbon) emissions,”
he added.
Thebault said he has received “an avalanche of requests” from cities
including Miami and Seattle, Tokyo, Bangkok and no fewer than 15 cities
in India.