This Spectacular EV Is Unlike Any Other: Made Using AI, a Child's Imagination, and Wood

The Internet is filled with incredible things, both good and bad, and arguably all of varying degrees of useless. But they're fun and, when touching on our general area of interest, particularly thrilling to watch, infusing some fun in the daily routine – even in cases like this one, when they don't really bring any real knowledge or usable information.

This here is an electric vehicle – a trike with a dually in the rear, to be more specific – that could be in the running for the world's most artistic, elaborate, and spectacular EV ever built. It would even win the title if it ever competed for it, so it should probably come as little surprise that it stems from the minds and hands of the team behind the ND – Woodworking channel.

ND – Woodworking is a duo of woodworking experts (father and son) that's seen an incredible rise in popularity on streaming platforms over the past few years. We've covered them several times already because they're particularly fond of exotics and kiddie cars, two seemingly opposed passions they're able to combine in projects that impress for their detailed work and functionality.

Before this alien-looking EV, ND – Woodworking progressed from scale models to kiddie cars, first limited editions like Ferraris and the Bugatti Centodieci, and then concept vehicles like the Mercedes Vision AVTR, the Lamborghini Vision GT, and the Audi Skysphere. In between, they've done everything from bicycles to motorcycles, trains and tanks.

The common denominator with all these projects is, as the name of the team hints, wood. Truong Van Dao does most of the work here, with his father choosing a more behind-the-scenes role. The narrative that usually frames their videos is that Van Dao's son wants a new kiddie car or toy, so he builds it for him – but that merely serves as introduction to the real fun.

The same applies to their most recent video, of this AI-designed vehicle that's part time machine, part the wood variant of Theo Jensen's iconic Strandbeest (or Sand Beast), a skeletonized machine that moves by the power of wind. The story is that Van Dao's kid wanted to ride in a rental kiddie car in his neighborhood but was constantly being turned down for reasons that remain a complete mystery but did involve some choreographed shoving to the ground.

Not that they matter all that much, if you think about it. The highlight is the vehicle, which starts rather unsurprisingly with a tubular steel frame and a 4-battery pack in the floor and only gets more complicated – and insane – from there on.

The rear wheel is a standard one and is later replaced with a dually, presumably on considerations of better maneuverability under all that weight. The video doesn't show the motor that keeps the entire thing in motion, but we're guessing it's a powerful one, given the added weight of the wood.

And a lot of it goes on the EV before it's finished.

Van Dao builds massive ring-like wings and gorgeous louvered arches, and a pair of giant wheels made of solid wood for the front. That sounds excessive and it's precisely that, but he doesn't stop here: he adds insanely elaborate cog-like complications and mechanisms that run together but independently from the wheels. He adds clock-like cogs to the wheel hubs, and articulated segments that move at their own pace while the vehicle is underway.

Even the interior is in motion during the drive, which probably helps with distracting from all the noise and the slow speed. Put in much simpler words, every part on this machine that could be rendered mobile is made to move, via an unnecessarily but beautiful complication that makes for jaw-dropping viewing.

From afar, it looks as if the EV has "legs," thanks to the articulated parts in the front that create a strange undulating motion. The video doesn't show where these complications draw power from or how they're activated, but it's clear that they move independently from the vehicle itself.

The rest of the EV is kept bare. There's no comfy seat inside, probably because the cabin has to offer enough space for at least one adult and a kid passenger, and mostly definitely because the goal is to ride in a futuristic, steampunk machine of the kind the world has never seen. Who cares about comfort in such a situation?

But to Van Dao's credit, he did include working lights for the brakes and turn signals, and a yoke-like steering wheel that verges on functional art – also made of wood, of course. Visibility is not great because of all the moving parts, but it exists and is enough for short, fun rides with kids at very slow speeds.

If your goal today was to be mindlessly entertained with an awesome video that won't really teach you anything, this is it. Still, it won't be a waste of time, no matter how useless or needlessly complicated you find the vehicle. Because it is, without a doubt, a thing of beauty.