”I have driven it to work every day for a year.”
It has four wheels, headlights, a steering wheel, a trunk and a windshield wiper. But it’s a bike. Swedish design engineer Mikael Kjellman has created this amazing new bicycle that looks suspiciously like a tiny car.
The PodRide does come with a small internal motor that allows it to reach speeds of around 15 miles per hour and that can carry a driver a distance of about 37 miles. But the 145-pound frame is primarily meant to be pedaled from destination to destination. Kjellman created an IndieGoGo page for the bike, saying that the design wasn’t meant to fool anyone but rather to provide safe and comfortable options for bike riding even in challenging weather conditions:
“I designed and built a four-wheeled bike with full fabric body to keep dry and warm in all-weathers. I have driven it to work every day for a year now and it has proven to be a very practical and comfortable little vehicle.”
When you sit in the PodRide, you’ll be at nearly eye level with other small vehicles, which Kjellman says is intentional to help increase visibility. But the 20 inch tires are narrow enough that it fits easily on most bike paths, meaning you won’t have to fight against actual, dangerous traffic. He’s already nearly raised the full $30,000 of his funding goal on the site and says a PodRide assembly kit would probably cost around $2,700 if he gets enough funding to produce it on a mass scale.
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