A Japanese Start-up has Launched £495,000 Hoverbike for Motorists

A Japanese start-up launches an innovative hoverbike which is available for pre-order in Japan

Image by:Caractacus Potts

A $680,000 (£495,000) hoverbike is now available in Japan and it has made big news among the Japanese. A Japanese start-up has introduced this innovative hoverbike to compel motorists to switch to this new hoverbike.

In Japan, ALI Technologies’ XTurismo Limited Edition went on sale this morning. Electronics company Mitsubishi and footballer Keisuke Honda are supporting the move of the Tokyo-based firm.

The ALI hoverbike can stay in the air for up to 40 minutes at speeds of up to 100 kilometers per hour (62 miles per hour) on a single charge.

By mid-2022, the firm plans to have produced 200 single-rider 300kg (47-stone) hoverbikes. An electric hoverbike is a motorized vehicle that has four battery-powered motors and an engine.

“The option has been to move on the ground or in the sky up until now,” ALI Technologies CEO Daisuke Katano added. “We intend to provide a new form of transportation.”

Overcrowding is a significant issue for the 13.5 million people who live in Tokyo. The high-tech metropolis is the world’s most populous metropolitan region.

However, current laws will prohibit hoverbikes from flying over Japan’s congested roads. Although, Mr Katano believes that these hoverbikes will be utilized by rescue teams to access areas that are now impossible to reach.

Ben Gardner, of Pinsent Masons, said once hoverbikes were considered a far-distant goal. But now, there is a high scope that these vehicles will be deployed on the roads.