the_human_car.html

Engineer Charles Greenwood’s HumanCar, Inc., based in Deep Forest, Oregon, has designed a human powered car that uses no fossil fuels and can produce electricity. He’s been working on the design since 1968, when he designed a 3-wheeled car that was powered by rowing. His latest design, tested on people from 12 years old to more than 70 years, can go more than 60 mph.

Four passengers, the front two facing forward and the others facing the rear, power the HumanCar. Energy is produced by pushing and pulling “t-bars”, much like the old railroad handcars that were used by track maintenance workers. The front passengers sit in concave pads are swivel from side to side and act as the steering mechanism, similar to the way a person maneuvers when skiing or snowboarding. The electricity generated when the car is coasting is stored in a battery and there is an electric-assist motor to help the car when it’s on a steep hill. People say the open-air car is fun to drive and easily steered but unfortunately, there is only one prototype at this time.

Greenwood is now looking for funding and partners to start a $10 million plant to mass-produce the car and already has many standing orders. He plans to begin with two models and sell them for around $6500. The cars will have GPS, Bluetooth communications, GPS and some other extras of a conventional car. These cars, while lightweight, are strong and very safe in a collision situation. Greenwood says the weight of the car will save billions in road wear and repair, help solve the gridlock problems of highly populated cities and substantially reduce noise pollution.

A third world model is nearly ready to be produced, made entirely of recycled plastics and nearly impossible to destroy. It has a generator that can power laptops and other low-power devices. Greenwood hopes to make this low-tech car at such a low cost to the consumer that it will be nearly free; his goal is the enable most of the world to make micro-economies by providing the cars for about $600 per car. He realizes he’ll need financial involvement from philanthropists or the U.N. The car could save billions upon billions of pollution from fouling our atmosphere and save trillions in healthcare costs from respiratory ailments.

HumanCar has nearly completed four more types of human-powered cars using aircraft aluminum and carbon fiber panels.