Avatar is considered a "Disco Coaster" made by Zamperla; there are other post on here about it.
Below is Zamperla response to my email to them:
The Gondola is always connected to power and the drive of the motor is always on. However, at the low point of the track, the motor, even though powered, is not really adding to the gondola's momentum.
This means at certain points during the ride, the gondola could be considered to be 'coasting'.
On a launch or lift-hill coaster, once the vehicle or train exits the launch or leaves the lift hill, all of the energy is in the system. Where, the system is the car or train. The train or car eventually comes to a stop due to losses (friction, wind resistance, and rolling resistance) and/or braking. The difference is that Avatar (Zamperla's product name: Disko Coaster with Skater gondola) has the ability to add energy during the ride into the system (i.e the gondola).
There are many coasters that have motors on-board, such as our Dragon coaster. These are still coasters, but they are classified as Powered Coasters. Furthermore, just as you can classify a coaster as inverted, sit-down or stand up. I'd consider the Avatar as a coaster, I'd just classify it as a 'disko coaster'. Some people may call it a Skater Coaster, but the Skater and Disko coasters are the same platform, they just have a different seating arrangement.
So, in my opinion, the Avatar is a powered, disko coaster.
Hope this helps.
Jay
Jay Crisler, P.E.
Director of Engineering
Zamperla, Inc.
49 Fanny Road
Boonton, NJ 07005
USA