RinspeedsQuba

01

Origins

For Geneva 2008 Rinspeed built the sQuba: a Lotus Elise converted to electric drive and genuine submersion — propellers and water jets carrying it to ten metres' depth, occupants breathing from integrated tanks in the open cockpit, the whole conceived as homage to the Bond submarine Esprit of 1977 but actually functional. Zero-emission operation in both elements completed the provocation. One car was built at seven-figure cost, toured the world's media, and remains the studio's signature stunt — the moment Swiss show-car whimsy achieved engineering sincerity. The sQuba encapsulates Rinspeed's role in the industry: nobody needed a diving Elise, but demonstrating one asked useful questions about electric drive, sealing, and autonomy that sober manufacturers were quietly researching.