HumanCar coming in April with a $15,000 price tag
The HumanCar just might be an eco-loving carpooler's dream come true. Four seats and four rowing handles (for human-powered battery charging). The unique human-powered/electric hybrid vehicle will be available this coming Earth Day for a paltry $15,000.
I say this vehicle might be a dream come true because it's a little difficult to actually understand what this vehicle is. Look at the way the company describes the HumanCar:
Fine Print: Base price $15k of Imagine™ LMV exotic super-human hybrid electric vehicle with BodySteer™ chassis..: Above concept "ideations" of Imagine™ by Mr. Stephen Brand. All elements subject to change. Earth Day 2008 Roll Out. The Imagine™ LMV will rock the world. Get involved. Imagine™ Electric Hybrid Pre-Order Information - The HumanCar® Imagine™ features an exoskeletal safety cage chassis, dual electric motors, variable human power input, Body-Steering™ patented chassis and SyncGuideway™ compatibility as standard equipment. It retails for $15k base.
Huh? "Ideations"? Trademarking the word "Imagine"? Is all this is too clear for you, feel free to download a confusingly-laid-out PDF brochure about the HumanCar. Somehow, this 30-mph top speed HumanCar made Wired's list of fast green cars. The company does call this thing a "hot rod," after all. It seems, though, that what gets hot is you as you help propel the LMV (Low Mass Vehicle) HumanCar around town. All sorts of biometrics equipment is an option. Just read this:
OPTIONS: Navigation and communications system features voice operated T2S2T (text 2 speech 2 text) Internet functionality. Plug-in w/ your iPod "blast-zone" stereo Stay hooked-up. Integrated H-chat to VOX Communications system to live feed audio/video chat to other H-chat groups and individuals. You know where the party is. Always. RFID locator AWD optional Full graphics kit compliment. Just like your dirt bike. Mad cup holders, A/C, heater, blower, standard. Biometrics- Temps., bpm, calorie and physiological systems monitors. Feedback. Full power capsule, windows, locks, mirrors and wipers. Launch Mode. Full-Lockout and burn-out feature.
Obviously, that image above is not the final deal. Where would the wipers go? I suppose we'll find out more before April.
Related:
[Source: HumanCar via Treehugger]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
RickM 10:52AM (1/30/2008)
Find out more in April, indeed. I predict that the details will be published on the first.
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markf 12:18PM (1/30/2008)
Looks like a hi-tech Flintstonesmobile. A $15K quad 'bicycle', usable only in good weather for sunbelt climates, only if you and your fellow drivers live in town & close to work, and god forbid 1 of 2 of the passengers can't supply their portion of the 'horsepower' by avoiding the office? The market for this is so small it dreams of being popular enough to be called a niche vehicle. Start again.
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zaedrus 2:59PM (1/30/2008)
Mad cup holders?
Is this Engrish or hip urban lingo?
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Rick 7:29PM (1/30/2008)
So $15k to paddle power this thing while I either freeze, get soaked or burnt to a crisp?
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Paul Peterson 2:01PM (1/31/2008)
This is the most pointless thing I've ever seen. Why not ride a bike? It's about $14,500 cheaper, easier and you don't have to look for parking.
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Jerome 6:57AM (2/02/2008)
I suspect that this may be an April fools joke. What is the point of this? It seems like a step backwards.
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LeeAnn 7:06AM (2/02/2008)
Seems to me that this Wannabe Flinstone era vehicle would only be good say in a small community to get back and forth to visit with neighbors, go to the community pool or recreation hall or for Golf Courses. This vehicle does not appear to be something you can take on the "open road", even on side streets. I can see this being used on large campuses of Colleges or Corporations to get from one area to another or say on Airport Tarmacs when the employees need to go from one Gate to another.
To me it looks like a cross between a Golf Cart and a Surrey minus the Fringe Top.....roflmao!!!
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FlintFredstone 7:17AM (2/02/2008)
What's this????
Somebody stole my car!!!
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Laurell 8:02AM (2/02/2008)
Wouldn't you stink by the time you got to work? I don't want to have to shower again when I get to work or work with people who drove this thing and smell! Yuck
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James Hufferd 8:36AM (2/02/2008)
I imagine this model to be only a beginning, and see all of its features as subject to improvement! Was the first Duryae Brothers horseless carriage a final solution obviously destined for the Autobahn and L.A. Freeways? You have to start somewhere, don't you? Anyone think the vehicles we drive/ride now will looked back upon with marvel as the ultimate answer a century from now? Keep you heads in the sand!
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Mark 9:11AM (2/02/2008)
I remember seeing a news report about thirty years ago about a pedal-powered car that would do thirty miles per hour. It wasn't just an idea; I saw the thing demonstrated. What happened to it and why has it taken so long to reinvent what looks like basicly the same idea?
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John Shugardt 9:13AM (2/02/2008)
I live in Georgia, so I'm still waiting for the car that runs on Body Fat, hauls 2 tons, and fits through the all-you-can-eat buffett drive-thru.
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stew 9:43AM (2/02/2008)
looks to me like a stretch limo golf cart for wealthy golfers.
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Whattheysay? 9:47AM (2/02/2008)
Ideation idiots ideal immobilizer.
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antares 10:32AM (2/02/2008)
I hear they will equip the entire fleet of the city of Berkeley, California.
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BobBare 10:45AM (2/02/2008)
As usual, the Swiss have the best version of this attempt already in their hands for a couple years.
Snazzy cockpit -- just for two. Pedal power that shunts all the energy to simply boost the batteries and doesn't limit the MPH like this little attempt.
The hangup is the Swiss can't seem to come up with a decent name. Their incredibly sexy and high performing HPV/electric hybrid is called a Twike, cute but totally inappropriate.
Of course for that level of quality design and engineering, the price tag is a little higher, though not much and it comes with serious amenities. Google it.
You can even go to Europe and learn to build them yourself, and then market it here. I'd do it if I just had the time and the money. Maybe there's a way to import them. Dealer anywhere among us?
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John Barnum 10:46AM (2/02/2008)
Click on the picture and get the details
Cheeze @ Crackers
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Allison 11:51AM (2/02/2008)
Clearly it's asian and they didn't hire someone who knew English. It looks like they copy and pasted what they wanted to say into babelfish and assumed it would be understandable. Wrong-O!
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Ricardo 12:14PM (2/02/2008)
A Fartmobile runs on natural gas!
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Bluedog 12:21PM (2/02/2008)
One word: idiotic!!
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