The improbable sounding Wubbo Ockels is the brains behind a new prototype electric superbus from the Netherlands. With seating for 23 passengers, plus a driver who sits centrally at the front, the superbus can hit 155mph flat out.

Sitting on six wheels, the low-slung 15-metre long bus is due to go into production within the next five years and Ockels believes it will solve the problem of efficient long distance transport. Each passenger has their own gullwing door and seat for limousine-like comfort.

Ockels is a former European Space Agency astronaut and has developed the superbus to make transport easier in the Netherlands. He says other countries will also be suited to the superbus and hopes to secure funding for a unique superbus lane to allow the vehicle to travel at its top speed.

Alisdair Suttie - 12 Apr 2011