The system was designed by Spanish engineer Leonardo Torres Quevedo and has been upgraded several times since 1916 (in 1961, 1967 and 1984).

[2] The Aero Car is suspended on six interlocking steel cables, each of which is 25 mm (0.98 in) in diameter.

The car is powered by an electric 50 horsepower (37 kW) motor and travels at approximately 7 km/h (4.3 mph).

In the event of a power failure, a diesel engine drives a hydraulic pump to pull the carrier back to the loading/unloading terminal.

The rapids entering the whirlpool below the Aero Car move at an estimated 35 to 37 km/h (22 to 23 mph), and the flow of the water coming through the river is about 2,800 cubic metres per second (2.3 acre⋅ft/s; 740,000 US gal/s; 620,000 impgal/s) in the summer months, and 1,400 cubic metres per second (1.1 acre⋅ft/s; 370,000 US gal/s; 310,000 impgal/s) in the winter months.