Toyota Researching Hover Cars to Increase Efficiency

Car companies are all looking for ways to make their vehicles consume less fuel, and release fewer greenhouse gasses. While most of the methods are focused on alternative energy sources, increased engine efficiency, and reduction of weight, Toyota is looking at a unique concept – to allow vehicles to hover a short distance from the ground in order to reduce friction.

In a recent interview at Bloomberg’s Next Big Thing Summit, Toyota technology manager Hiroyoshi Yoshiki mentioned that their advanced research and development teams have been exploring a hovercraft-like design which would raise vehicles “a little bit away” from the ground.

As with many R&D projects, the technology might never make its way into a production vehicle, but it sure would be interesting to see if hovering cars ever make their way onto the road. If nothing else, they’d save you the trouble of getting flat tires.