A company that sells flying motorbikes just got listed on the Nasdaq, which means that we’re all living in The Jetsons now, basically.
The Japanese company ALI Technologies sells the futuristic XTURISMO, a so-called “luxury hoverbike,” powered by electricity, which are said to have been inspired by the hovercrafts from Star Wars. The XTURISMOs are 3.66 m in length and can travel up to 60 miles per hour, according to the company.
Bloomberg News originally reported that ALI’s parent company, AERWINS, was in the process of merging with a blank check company, Pono Capital Corps, which had planned to take the business public. A press release published Friday says the merger was approved by company shareholders on January 27 and that it will begin trading on the Nasdaq Monday.
As you might imagine, ALI’s hoverbikes are pretty cool looking. They made their U.S. debut at the North American Auto Show in Detroit last year.
However, cool as they look, the XTURISMOs definitely have some drawbacks. For one thing, the longest they can hover is only about 40 minutes, making them not exactly the ideal cross country travel vehicle. And, unless you’ve got a ridiculous amount of money to burn, you’re definitely not going to be able to buy one: their current price tag is a cool $US550,000 ($763,510) — making them more or less a plaything for the likes of Jeff Bezos.
You might be wondering how a company that sells hovercrafts that cost half a billion dollars apiece plans to make any actual money. ALI has marketed the XTURISMOs as “a tool for rescue workers, infrastructure inspection and as a showpiece for public entertainment,” Reuters reports. The company has made one sale so far, the outlet notes. The business also sells drones, as well as drone software and cloud solutions.