Get your own Human Powered Fred Flintstone Car Right Here!

Industrial Design
Feb 14, 2008
7 Comments


sketches-and-mockups-of-the-human-powered-vehicle.jpg
Image collage from Ecoble

Check out this amazing and inspirational feat of engineering called The HumanCar. A human powered car that is, I am sure, inspired by the famous foot powered Flintstone mobiles.

flintstones-car.jpg

It apparently can reach speeds of 80 miles per hour (128.75 Km/h) and is designed to make driving a participatory experience. The four riders need to work together to get it going as well as steering by leaning into a turn. A rechargeable battery and motor, jumps in when you feel like taking a break.

Though it is safer than a bicycle, due to its road safe impact resistant skeleton, I do wonder about its ability to be handled by one person, its lack of seat belts (80mph come on!), and weather protection. Regardless, it is a marvel of engineering especially with the way the rowing movement is converted and transmitted to the car’s forward motion.

Check out the images from the official press release:

humancar_fm4_csg_pe.JPG
The HumanCar Inventor Charles Greenwood and his prototype


transmission.JPG
Where the magic happens, the transmission box.


driveshaft.JPG
The drive shaft that transmits the energy to the wheels.


humancar_fm4.JPG
The HumanCar’s exoskeleton prototype.



Check out the very cool video on how it works.


It can be yours for $15,000 and they are taking pre-orders at the official HumanCar website. Looks like good clean environmentally friendly but sweaty fun!

Via: Ecoble




    |         |     Add to Stumble Upon


Did you enjoy this post? If so, why not subscribe to The Design Sojourn Newsletter for free and conveniently get the latest content delivered right to your inbox with our 110% NO-SPAM Policy! You can also follow me on Twitter and Facebook as well.



Related Posts You Might Find Interesting:

  • The R2B2 Human Powered Kitchen Appliance Concept
  • Question of the week: How do I Hire the Right Designer for me?
  • How to REALLY “feel” the beat
  • We Need to Constantly Challenge our Design Processes
  • Adding A Human Touch to the Future of Mobile Experiences

    • Comments

    Trend Insights
    Feb 14, 08 – 7:11 pm

    I want one too! Looks superb!

    Jacob Cass
    Feb 15, 08 – 12:20 am

    Wow, that is pretty nifty.

    justin (pusha)
    Feb 15, 08 – 9:25 am

    Wow. That is amazing. I would totally rock that car. I work from home and drive very little. I bought a new car last year and finally just hit 3,000 miles in 11 months. That’s total grandpa style I know;) Lockheed Martin was working on a prototype a long time ago that had cars working on magnets on the freeway, I don’t know if it included Gas usage though.

    Design Digest Vol.4 » Yanko Design
    Aug 28, 08 – 11:17 am

    [...] Human powered car by Charles Greenwood. Via: Design Sojourn [...]

    onthelang
    Oct 09, 10 – 5:56 pm

    Wow, Id love one of these! Will keep and eye out!

    Bart
    Sep 10, 11 – 7:16 pm

    That is WAY cool! love it!

    J.R delaluz Navarro
    Oct 23, 11 – 4:46 pm

    Its a great,great idea!!!!I think that its a really,a !!!!!SMARTCAR!!!!!!!


    A note about commenting: We value your comments as they provide different perspectives that we can learn from and/or improve our products as we see this blog as a platform for interaction and exchange with our friends. However, whilst we welcome constructive criticism, we do not tolerate offensive and disrespectful comments. Postings deemed inappropriate will be removed.

    Finally, to avoid auto deletion from spam filtering, we kindly ask that you use your personal name or initials instead of your business name. Thank you and I hope you enjoy being part of the design conversation!