There must also be some doubt whether Fiat, whose main expertise lies in small cars, can steer to safety a firm whose sales have historically depended on light trucks.

Because there's only room in the cockpit for a small parachute, a pilot descends fast and pretty much straight down, with very little ability to steer or soften the landing.

Powerbeam's solution is to fit a small fluorescent bulb to the receiving device so that a camera on the transmitter can track the light and steer the laser beam accordingly.