This ultra-light carbon fiber sphere can fly, run on land and float on water!

Italian designer Pierpaolo Lazzarini has crafted a niche for futuristic designs under the Lazzarini Design Studio since 1982 and designing the most outlandish creations. The projects by Pierpaolo center on the automotive and watercraft concept designs that balance luxury and comfort in the future of mobility. Their latest design is a blueprint for an amphibious vehicle that can fly is right up there with the best for its sheer design excellence. The Italian design studio calls it the Stratosfera – and it can move on water, land, and even air. According to the designer, there are submarine and snowcat variants of the vehicle also under development. I can already imagine getting on board and having a thrilling ride on this futuristic concept!

The vehicle is dubbed Stratosfera Aquatica in watercraft mode – having a spherical design measuring 1.65 meters in diameter – like a small pod for two people. The sphere is made out of ultra-lightweight carbon fiber material. The water mode has a very low center of gravity since the batteries are fitted inside the lower end of the extendable foil setup. This helps the structure work like a gyroscope to keep the sphere pod stable via the self-balancing system for a smooth ride en route to the destination. The balancing act ensures the tilting angle of the Stratosfera counters any abrupt movement for a comfort-laden ride for the passengers. The pod is powered by twin 150 hp electric jet engines – propelling it forward high above the water at speeds of 30 knots – and when the speed is slowed down, the pod comes down on the surface of the water.

In the flight mode, the Stratosfera Volatile adapts the characteristics of a quadcopter, flying at a speed of 250 km/h eVTOL or can be set up for solar-powered flying mode. The good news is that the Jet Capsule company plans to launch Stratosfera as an open-source project by mid-2022. This will immensely help in futuristic mobility study as owners will be able to contribute to the development and designing upgrades of the watercraft. I hope they are taking pre-orders soon!

Designer: Lazzarini Design Studio