This bike disguised as a car is a brilliant geek dream come true
Biking to work may be the choice mode of transportation for some, but if it's cold out, it's a lot less attractive. Here's a creative way to stay warm on a bike in colder climates: Turn your ride into a car!
Sweden-based entrepreneur Mikael Kjellman has designed a pretty rad four-wheel bike concept called PodRide that can handle the harsh weather of the region -- something he uses to commute into work every day. Covered in full fabric and a waterproof body to keep dry, it looks more like a car than a bike.
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Kjellman recently posted his creation to crowdfunding site Indiegogo for a kit that would allow people to build their own similar vehicle at home.
According to the Indiegogo page, the PodRide is powered by an electric bike, with 14-speed bicycle gears. The maximum speed is about 25 km/hour, and it can travel about 60 km on a charge -- good for a commute but not necessarily a road trip. Steering occurs via two levels positioned on the sides of the seat. Brakes are built into the handles.
The PodRide has the same seating position and height as a small car, so drivers can be easily spotted in traffic. But it’s also narrow enough for bike paths.
While it’s certainly not as durable as a traditional car, it has bells and whistles that go beyond your traditional bike: It features a heated windshield, studded tires and a trunk to stash your stuff. And you don’t need a driver’s license to operate it.
Kjellman's creation isn't entirely new -- he's been posting videos to YouTube for a few months now -- but the new Indiegogo campaign is bringing more attention to the quirky yet practical concept: it's already received more than $20,000 in backing, about 70% of its overall funding goal.
However, supporting the campaign won't get you a PodRide of you're own, but it'll help you get a discount. The total cost for a final production model is expected to cost $2,800.
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Samantha Murphy Kelly was the Deputy Tech Editor for Mashable, where she covered lifestyle tech and entertainment. She joined the Mashable team in 2011 and was based in New York.Samantha is regularly featured on national TV broadcasts -- including Fox, Fox Business, CNBC, the BBC and HuffPost Live -- contributes to radio segments (NPR, Wall Street Journal Radio) and has served as a panelist and moderator at conferences.Before joining Mashable, Samantha covered the tech industry as a senior writer for TechNewsDaily and wrote stories for sister publications LiveScience.com and Laptop Magazine. Her stories have been syndicated to various sites including CNN, Yahoo! News, MSNBC, ABC News, Fox News and CBS News. She also spent five years at a retail trade magazine writing about social media and technology, worked at ABC News in the Brian Ross investigative unit and got her start in journalism at CourtTV.com, where she reported on high-profile court cases. She’s a graduate of New York University with a degree in journalism.Samantha has taught English in Thailand, climbed Mt. Fuji in Japan and has a thing for pizza.
