Ah yes, electrification. The ultimate buzzword when it comes to anything and everything mobility. And clearly, electrification is more than just Teslas, EV motorcycles, e-bikes, and tooth-busting e-scooters anymore.
These days, we’ve very much crossed into a world where mobility isn’t just a matter of wheels on the ground—it’s a multi-dimensional circus, where (concept) vehicles can take to the sky and submerge themselves in the depths of the sea. We’re seeing a microcosm of oddities that hope to somehow usher in the next generation of mobility, as some are amusingly imaginative, while others hilariously impractical and borderline insane.
But hey, creativity is and always will be cool. Even if the result looks like something a sci-fi fanatic came up with after a fever dream that was the result of one too many Red Bulls.
Case in point just has to be this thing called the RICTOR Skyrider X1, which made an appearance at the recently concluded Consumer Electronics Show (CES) at Las Vegas. And it’s exactly what it depicts itself to be in the picture above: a flying motorcycle. Yes, you read that right. It’s what we refer to as an eVTOL—electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle—that claims to redefine “future mobility.”
But does it? Spoiler alert: signs point to no.
Buuut, before we get too skeptical, let’s give this thing a chance and take a look at the (claimed) specs. The Skyrider X1 boasts an ahead-of-its-time eight-propeller system, aviation-grade materials, and a flight speed of 100 kilometers per hour (62 miles per hour) for a good 40 minutes. So yeah, you could think of it as a massively scaled-up drone you can ride and drive.
The thing comes with a 50 kW DC charger, too. And just like your fancy drone, it gets features like automatic route planning and real-time environmental adaptability making it virtually uncrashable.
Let’s get real for a minute here. In a world where humans can’t even merge lanes without causing chaos, I don’t think anyone, anywhere in the world is ready for personal mobility to, quite literally, take flight. I mean, road traffic’s bad enough—imagine air traffic. No thanks.
Oh, and the Skyrider X1 isn’t meant to just take flight. It can even drive underwater, too. Crazy, I know. And while the amphibious design is a cool flex, here’s the thing: humanity is not exactly known for restraint.
A flying, semi-aquatic bike sounds like the perfect recipe for... well, utter chaos and the collapse of any semblance of safety as we know it. And this perceived freedom could easily translate to anarchy in the skies, on the road, and even in lakes, rivers, and beaches. I mean, just imagine it: flying bodies on fire, high-adrenaline airborne TikTok stunts (‘coz, duh, for the views), and mid-air road rage—or should I say, sky rage?
Whatever.
All I know is if this takes off (pun intended), it’ll need more than a parachute to save us. Maybe a time machine back when this thing didn’t exist yet.
So yeah, while the Skyrider X1 is indeed a cool concept that’s all about making things of sci-fi reality, it’s probably better off in concept form, at least for now.
Now despite having shat so heavily on this thing, believe it or not, I don’t think the idea of the Skyrider X1 is bad at all. It’s definitely good to push boundaries, even if they go well beyond the realm of practicality, or even reality. And what RICTOR has done is something pretty important in and of itself: visualize something extraordinary—something that might be possible. If not in our reality, then maybe in a universe where all logistical hurdles are conveniently ignored, or never even existed in the first place.
And here’s where it gets existential. The RICTOR Skyrider X1 is already real. You’re looking at it, thinking about riding it, and maybe even laughing at it, as I am. And so maybe the real question here is, does it matter if it ever makes it to production? In some realm—be it in our imaginations, on a CGI-heavy movie screen, or even in the pictures you’re looking at on your phone or computer—it exists.
Remember, folks, reality isn’t black and white. It’s all a bit fluid, isn’t it? What even is real? Perhaps we’ll never really know.
