BMW to unveil a hydrofoil craft

BMW is getting ready for an unusual premiere: the Icon is an all-electric hovercraft set to debut at the Cannes Festival along with the Bavarian carmaker’s short movie, The Calm.

The company says the boat is still technically a concept, but everything is ready for mass production.

The project is a joint effort with Tyde, a popular manufacturer of marine boats. The Icon uses two electric motors rated at 136 PS (134 hp / 100 kW) each. It also packs as many as six traction battery arrays taken from the BMW i3, which supply it with a combined 240 kWh of power.

Once the boat reaches a certain acceleration, it extends underwater wings and rises above the water surface, creating the impression of flight. Aside from looking cool and moving fast while in this mode, it saves up to 80% of its available power moving this way. Even so, it maxes out at 56 km/h (35 mph) and runs out of battery juice after just 93 kilometers (57 miles).

Interesting features include a giant control screen and an exclusive ‘powertrain soundtrack’ composed by the famous Hans Zimmer.