MARCH 2008: NEXT
HUMAN-POWERED CAR
In a cartoon car dealership, the Imagine LMV would sit
somewhere between the Flintstone-mobile and the Jetsons’
flying space-age sedan. It’s a human-electric hybrid,
powered by a rowing-machinelike mechanism and two electric
motors. Engineered and manufactured by Seattle-based HumanCar,
Imagine will launch on Earth Day 2008 (April 22) and retail for
a cool $15,000. It will be sold initially through the company
and at a car dealership in Menlo Park, Calif. That might sound
steep for something that looks like a golf cart, but the
car’s inventor, southern Oregon-based professional
engineer Charles S. Greenwood, says a unique method of body
steering makes it handle like a Lamborghini. “It’s
the muscle car for this century,” he says. Prototypes
have clocked in at speeds in excess of 65 mph, but don’t
go challenging that Prius down the block to a drag race just
yet: As of right now, Imagine is only street-legal up to 35
mph. JAMIE
HARTFORD
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