New All-Electric Seaplane Glides Above the Water Like a Hovercraft

While this project has some esteemed names backing it my bet is that it will fail. The reason it will fail is because electric aircraft that can reach the 100's to 1000's of feet will be more practical because they will be able to get above all the other water traffic and still operate as cheaply as this craft as batteries become ever cheaper and the cost of electricity remains low and going lower.

The hydrofoil while taxiing is kind of cute but it will subject to collisions with dead head logs and weeds and all kinds of obstacles that can be easily seen under the water. While are regular float plane's pontoons have been tried and proven as they naturally just skid over top of anything that's below the surface.

So in short, this craft will face economies barely better than a similarly sized electric float plane (even given the energy savings of ground effect) while having the disadvantages of only low level flight and risks from things under the water from the hydrofoil.

I think this is using a less extreme Wing in Ground Effect, different technique than a hovercraft.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground-effect_vehicle