Are you familiar with the XTurismo Limited Edition? Whether you call it a hoverbike, a flying car, or some combination of the above, simple use of those words probably posts an image in your mind that looks pretty much like the finished object you can see in photos and videos. It’s the product of Japanese company A.L.I. Technologies, which has been busy taking it on the road (or over the road, perhaps) in 2022.
At the beginning of May, 2022, A.L.I. brought the XTurismo to Suzuka Circuit as part of a big working vehicle exhibition called Hataraku Norimono Daishugo. From June 8 through 12, 2022, the XTurismo is headed to Monaco for the Top Marques Monaco 2022, an event that showcases supercars, hypercars, exclusive motorcycles, and other forms of transportation. The most recent edition of Top Marques Monaco took place in 2019, and the event took the same hiatus as many large events in the world until 2022.
The fact that A.L.I. Technologies also works in the drone space is probably not even slightly surprising, given the XTurismo’s styling. While the company has posted photos and video online for some time, naturally, there have been some who have been skeptical about the XTurismo’s real-world capabilities. Presumably, that’s why the company is so keen to get it out to public events for demonstrations.
It’s not difficult to see why you’d be skeptical, and we’re not saying that just because it’s a new and/or underexplored technology. The specs listed on the company’s website are extremely vague, pretty much to the point of frustration. The drive, for example, is listed as “Internal combustion engine + electric,” with absolutely no further information given about either powerplant, nor how they work together. Control is listed as “Autonomous control by electronic control.” We know that manufacturers can say what they like about their products, and that their claims may or may not be proved as true later on—but shouldn’t some information be available?
A little further down the page, the XTurismo’s claimed curb weight is 300 kilograms, or a hair over 661 pounds. It’s 3.7 meters long by 2.4 meters wide by 1.5 meters high (approximately 12.1 feet by 7.87 feet by 4.9 feet), has a range of approximately 30 to 40 minutes, a top speed of 80 kilometers per hour (just under 50 mph), and has a rated load capacity of 100 kilograms (or 220 pounds). The company is currently accepting preorders for the 200 initial XTurismo Limited Edition units it plans to produce, at a cost of ¥ 77,700,000, or about $610,710.
