autoevolution
 

Imagine PS, the People Powered Car

Imagine PS Bionic E-HybridImagine PS Bionic E-HybridImagine PS Bionic E-Hybrid
With the automotive industry struggling to put on a new face for the millennium which started a decade ago, we keep on seeing stranger and stranger vehicles being developed. We are not taking, of course, about the hybrid or electric vehicles, but of the cars which are built to shock.

One of these vehicles is the HumanCar Imagine PS, a vehicle which combines a car works by using “an arrangement of mechanical parts that convert oscillatory motion into rotational motion about one axis.” Meaning you row like crazy... Sort of.

The Imagine PS runs on people or, at least, on the energy generate by a bunch of them (four, to be precise) moving a hand operated crank. Bluntly put, the more muscles you have, the faster the car goes.

Imagine PS has been created by a professor Charles Greenwood some years back but, due to the lack of interest from the buyers, production hasn't really kicked off yet. Despite this setback, we must admit, we're a bit surprise of what this crate on wheels can do.

The car can be operated by one, two, three or even four people, who can be seated into it in any arrangement they might imagine (forward or backward or in any combination).

Their physical efforts are being converted into forward motion by the mechanism created by Greenwood. In field trials, the Imagine was capable of reaching 60 mph (96 km/h) while being perfectly controllable.

Building on the first incarnation of the Imagine, Greenwood designed the 2011 model to be powered both by humans and by the electricity generated by solar panels. This make it, if you like, the first ever human-electric hybrid vehicle in history -  the Imagine PS Bionic E-Hybrid.

Greenwood is selling the Imagine PS for $15,500 (divide that by four in case you want to buy it with the other friends which will use it and it's a bargain). Only a $50 deposit is required but you might want to think twice before ordering one.

Production of the thing won't begin until at least 800 reservations have been made (currently, the order book counts about 100).

If this convertible version doesn't suit you, you might want to wait for the sedan version which will be launched in the near future.

If you liked the article, please follow us:  Google News icon Google News Youtube Instagram
About the author: Daniel Patrascu
Daniel Patrascu profile photo

Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
Full profile

 

Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?

You will only receive our top stories