HumanCar, a Seattle based company will be featured on "Invention Nation" on the Science Channel on Monday November 26th. The company wants to build a factory in Bend, Oregon where they hope to manufacture and sell 3,000 human powered hybrids a year.
The human powered hybrid cars are zero emission vehicles that utilize a push pull
hand mechanism and regenerative braking to provide power to batteries that would drive the vehicles dual electric motors. Whoa! This is a first, and the company is happy to market the vehicle right here in Oregon where the market is hot.
The car only weighs 400 pounds as it is made of aluminum and carbon fiber. It can seat four people and the cost is estimated to be around $15,000. The one draw back is that the vehicle is only legal to drive in city streets with a speed limit of 35mph or less. It would be perfect for any small Oregon city or downtown area like Eugene, Springfield, or Corvallis.
Chuck Greenwood, the company’s Bend-based marketing executive said that he is hoping to generate a buzz from the publicity on the Science Channel. If 100 pre-orders are filled, then the company will pursue financing to build the factory in Bend which could create 100 jobs.
The market for sustainability is definitly in Oregon, and its quite exciting to see projects like these take off. Who knows what will come in the next ten years with all the innovation emerging in this new "eco-market".
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
HumanCar: A Human Powered Hybrid to be built in Central Oregon
at 12:45 PM
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5 comments:
Being from Central Oregon I can tell you that this is a horrible idea for that area due to the distances needed to travel in general and the road conditions.
It might work fine elsewhere (like a city), but if they're planning on marketing to a CO audience they won't get far.
There's a lot of Californians who have moved into the area, but there aren't that many.
I can reply to that.....
We are manufacturing from Central Oregon (realize there's only about 100k people here) for global distribution and sales. 75% of the world population lives in urban areas with less than 35 mph routes. It's for the rest of the planet. What is important to understand is the fact that we are creating a community of sustainable eco-tech. clean/tech awareness...
Do not be too surprised to find us rocking to the hill to get some turns in or blasting around town. There's more and more aware people everyday. Remember they said it was a horrible idea to build microprocessor components from sand. Be careful and have more of a positive attitude so as not to look too sheltered. So good job understanding it's for city usage. The tip point just spawns from there, I'm available to chat anytime, maybe even get you on-board for a hot lap. There are 17 million cars per year sold in the USA alone. The US is just a micro-market of our total focus. Maybe the bus money could have been spent in this area and created a global buzz for the better. The possibilities are endless.... CSG
Think global act local!
I would be interested in meeting you and checking out the car for myself if you have any time. I'm just out in Eugene so perhaps Friday afternoon? Let me know, I would love to take pictures and check the human hybrid car out in person.
JT-
Earth Day 08 roll out of the Imagine™ LMV,
perhaps we can hot lap it Eugene after that!
Thanks,
CSG
This is an awesome car. I like how the Imagine LMV looks like a boat but a sleek machine at the same time.
Have you considered a single seater for cycleways or even an amphibious car?
As the HumanCar is a rower, there is force applied by your legs when pulling the rower towards yourself.
I would also use the legs to generate power by using similar mechanism as the rower does to the transmission.
Id put bike shoe clips on the foot rests so to connect a bike shoe to the foot rest to be able to push the rower forward, even though the back person is pushing the rower forward for you, if all were clipped to the foot rest, human power would be more energy efficient and faster. Would also allow one person to power the car.
Id also use the side body of the car as storage compartments for say a backpack or food.
I look forward to the Imagine LMV in Australia it has huge potential here.
Best of luck with your HumanCar hope its a big hit.
best regards, Luke, Australia
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