Airnam
The inflatable electric "car", fully transportable
The lightest 4-seater transport ever built
Airnam is an inflatable electric "car", fully transportable. Developed thanks to a grant from ADEME (the Xtrem Défi programme), it targets a radical goal: design the lightest 4-and-more-person means of transport in existence - under 90 kg, and fully transportable.
A crazy project, which led us to develop several versions: the Scorpi, a 1-to-2-person vehicle, and the Oxpecker, designed to carry 4 to 6 people. A technical challenge at every level - one that only AQ-Tech could take on.
Our technical approach
Making an inflatable structure roll: a challenge at the crossroads of textile, inflatables and mechanical engineering.
Product design & versions
From an extravagant prototype to a transportable vehicle.
- + Scorpi: a 1-to-2-person vehicle
- + Oxpecker: transport for 4 to 6 people
- + Record mass target: < 90 kg
- + Architecture designed for folding and transport
Inflatable technologies: dropstitch & tubular
The right inflatable structure for each function.
- + High-pressure dropstitch panels for structural surfaces
- + Tubular inflatable structures for the chassis
- + HF welding, airtightness and long-term pressure resistance
Textile & materials
The ideal trade-off between lightness and strength.
- + Selection of fabrics and coatings according to working pressure
- + Mass / strength / durability trade-off
- + Materials suited to the loads of a rolling vehicle
Mechanical strength & integration of rigid components
Making the soft and the rigid work together.
- + Sizing the mechanical strength of inflatable architectures
- + Integration of the motor, battery and steering
- + Soft/rigid interfaces: load transfer and fixings
Results & status
Airnam proves that an inflatable structure can become a vehicle: an electric "car" for 4 people and more, under 90 kg, fully transportable. A project carried through to completion - sometimes extravagant, but a technical challenge met at every level: design, inflatables, textile and mechanical engineering.
Status: completed project - demonstrators built (Scorpi, Oxpecker)
Expertise serving an out-of-the-ordinary project
Inflatables and mechanical engineering combined
The Airnam project mobilizes our Inflatable Systems and Mechanical Engineering divisions to turn a soft architecture into a reliable, transportable vehicle.
Inflatable systems
Design of dropstitch, tubular and complex structures for technical inflatable products.
Mechanical engineering
Mechanical strength, integration of rigid components and validation of functional assemblies.
An out-of-the-ordinary inflatable project?
AQ-Tech designs and industrializes technical inflatable structures, from wearable devices to vehicles. Let's talk about your challenge.
