Swedish tech biz aims to sail past traffic woes on electric hydrofoils

A Swedish technology company thinks it has a solution to the misery of urban commutes, at least for those in cities with good access to waterways: 30-seat, all-electric hydrofoil shuttles that can reach speeds of up to 30 knots, or just shy of 35mph (55kph). The P-12 Shuttle has already received a nod from city officials in …

[Paul Herber]

'the Stockholm trials won’t be undertaken until Spring 2024'

Any trials before the spring might require ice skates rather than a hydrofoil.

[Anonymous Coward]

Orkney Islands

I knew I had seen something similar recently and I've just found it, battery powered hydrofoil ferries in the Orkney Islands.

[Matthew "The Worst Writer on the Internet" Saroff]

They say, "Hydrofoil," and I hear, "Monorail," from the Simpson episode.

[John Brown (no body)]

Not exactly breaking news....

From just over a year ago Hydrofoil: World's first electric-powered 'flying' boat launched and also, from about the same time but also predicting a 2024 service launch as per the El Reg article, Hydrofoil: Electric ferry will run between Belfast and Bangor

[CowHorseFrog]

Heres a crazy idea, maybe the idea of commuting itself is dumb..and should be avoided or minimized.

[munnoch]

Maybe for you in your cozy IT or managerial job that can be carried out in a completely virtual space.

But what about the jobs that require interaction with physical stuff?

Anything supply chain (supermarkets, online marketplaces), medical procedures, hospitality, take-aways, plumbers, taxis, hair cuts, dry cleaning, manufacturing (such as it is in the UK...).

You can't really avoid the need for the people engaged in these activities to travel to a place of work. And given that many of these services are seen as low value (but essential, how ironic) they are usually low paid so affordable places to live may be distant or poorly served by public transport.

Hence ULEZ expansion backlash, hence business crying out for immigration (pack guys in at the bottom tier who have low expectations on remuneration, at least in the short term). And of course Big Tech's constant race to the bottom to automate as may of these activities out of existence as possible.

Commuting is a post-industrial concept. If you want to avoid it then we all need to go back to a pre-industrial lifestyle.

[Ian Johnston]

Because it makes minimal contact with the water (while at speed), the P-12's wake is nearly nonexistent,

Well, the hull wake will be minimal. However, the propeller wake is significant and can easily be bigger than the hull wake.

[david 12]

Sliced fish

No displacement == right through any fish that get in the way. Remember, if you can't see it destroying the environment, it doesn't really happen.