River-powered 'magic carpet' boats could provide Londoners with Thames taxi service

“Flying” water taxis powered by river currents could be tested on the Thames in London later this year.

The electric boats, called SeaBubbles, use hydrofoils to lift them out the water, reducing the drag to allow them to reach speeds of up to 25 knots and creating a comfortable ride likened to a “magic carpet”.

They come with a specially designed dock with several turbines in the water. The idea is that these and solar panels will supply all the electricity required to run the boats, so they are completely “off grid”.

Five SeaBubbles are due to start a trial on the River Seine in Paris this summer.

The Paris-based company behind the boats, founded by record-breaking sailors Alain Thébault and Anders Bringdal, has also had discussions about introducing them in the United States and has been invited for talks with the London Mayor’s office.

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Mr Bringdal told The Independent the SeaBubble was more efficient than traditional boats because of the hydrofoils.

“Instead of pushing the water, we cut it, so you don’t leave any wake,” he said.

“As you lift the hull out of the water you lose 40 per cent of the drag.

“With our system, with the water turbines below the docks, we can create the energy we need to operate the fleet.

“The idea is to create as much energy as we can from solar or hydro.

“The [river] currents are 24 hours, and we will store the energy in power walls [batteries] to run the taxis for 12 to 15 hours, depending on the power of the river and the size of the turbines. Not in every place but in some places.

“[The intention] is to try to be as off the grid as much as we can.

“I would hope we would be able to do something in London in 2017, getting some boats over and doing a little demonstration would be very good.”

Mr Bringdal, a former professional windsurfer who broke a yachting world speed record with Mr Thébault in 2009 using a hydrofoil yacht, said the first full-scale SeaBubble should be ready in the next few weeks.

“Our goal is building a really easy boat – easy to build and easy to use, without any complicated stuff,” he said.

“To make it easy, it’s super hard.”

In a video taken while sailing on a hydrofoil yacht, Mr Thébault said: “The project combines air and seaborne transportation. You are riding on a magic carpet five or six metres above the sea.”

The SeaBubble’s website points out that most of the world’s big cities are on a river or the coast.

“Cities are trying to decrease the pollution. Examples of such efforts include the promotion of self-serve electric vehicles (such as Autolib’ in Paris), greener public transportation vehicles etc,” it says.

“Yet limited efforts have been put in the development of a green maritime transportation system. Such as SeaBubble.

“Our vision for the Bubbles is to be a fun green mode of transport that answers the needs in the ever-congested public transport systems around the globe.

“Cities will be forced to go greener. To help them, SeaBubbles will exploit the waterways already used by millions in New York City and London but with [no] impact on the environment.

“It is green, it is fun and it is safe. And you will not get stuck in traffic. It will be great to live in such cities where you can commute in and out using this new modern way of transport.”