Regent Coastal Travel 100% Electric logo.
May 18, 2021
Regent Coastal Travel
Neither ship nor plane, quite the opposite. The Regent water glider aspires to lead a new generation of maritime transportation, but with the technology provided by the aeronautical industry.
This project is developed by a Boston firm, led by 2 engineers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Its roadmap contemplates building 2 units: one for 12 passengers and another for 50, and that the first is operational in 2025.
These are vehicles whose function is summarized in the acronym of their name: Regional Electric Naval Ground Effect Transportation.
Regent Coastal Travel
What is the ground effect
The ground effect is an aerodynamic phenomenon that allows creating a kind of cushion that leads the aircraft to develop high speeds, without contact with any surface.
This physical principle was used by the engineers of the Soviet Union to build Ekranoplanes, gigantic airships conceived as troop transport or missile launchers, but which in the end have been abandoned and forgotten.
Comfortable as a ferry, fast as a plane
As for the Regent, its design is reminiscent of an airplane, with a wing that deploys 8 electric motors. At the height of the second engine, a keel unfolds, as if it were an ice skate, which helps to maintain the stability of the vehicle.
Regent Coastal Travel
When leaving the port the seaglider, as it is called in English, will rise at speeds of 32 to 72 kilometers per hour. As it will not have the direct impact of the waves, passengers will travel without having to worry about dizziness.
A short time later, already in open water, the strange vehicle will be able to reach speeds of up to 290 kilometers per hour. It will be like a ferry, but quieter and 6 times faster.
Its autonomy will be about 300 kilometers, so the Regent is designed for coastal transport between cities or to communicate island populations.
Regent Coastal Travel
Alliance with air taxis
At these speeds, it would be a serious competitor to regional flights, especially in areas surrounded by the sea.
In addition, being electric they do not generate emissions; which will attract the eyes of passengers looking for a way to travel without harming the environment.
But the idea of the Regent promoters is that in the near future their seagliders will be a complement to eVTOL vehicles, that is, air taxis: while the former bring innovation in maritime transport, the latter will be in charge of bringing a new one. revolution in the urban.
Regent Coastal Travel
The first prototype
The Regent company has raised 9 million euros in various investment rounds, and its promoters assure that they have committed 465 million provisional purchase orders from aeronautical and maritime transport companies.
For now, in order for the project to be more than just computer calculations and models, a prototype one-quarter the original size will debut at the end of the year, which it will glide at full speed over the waters.
Regent: https://www.regentcraft.com/
Images, Text, Credits: Regent/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.
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