Ford wants to make every back wheel of their cars able to transform into an electric unicycle.
On many occasions, even those among us strongly attached to their cars, wish they had a bicycle or some sort of a compact electric one- or two-wheeler vehicle in the trunk. This could have made these last few miles of the trip so much easier. But don’t worry if you are never able to free space for that special portable transport mode- Ford has thought of you.
A patent, filed by the American automaker, proposes quite an interesting and neat solution to the problem. The mechanics propose to make the back wheel of the car easily transformable into a super fancy, self-balancing, electric unicycle.
To all Batman fans, the concept should sound very familiar. Just like the Batpod that emerges from the super cool Batmobile in The Dark Night, the unicycle can emerge from your Ford. The patent says that the components of the unicycle- the battery, the handlebars, the seat, etc., will be carefully hidden in the trunk. The parts would be very light and extremely easy to take in and out.
When needed, the unicycle would be assembled with minimal effort, most likely using a special system, so that these components are easily fitted to one of the back wheels.
In order to make the whole assembly process as fast and convenient as possible, Ford proposes a new automated jack system that can help you detach/ attach the back wheel super easy (unlike the current ways of changing tires).
It is true that filing for a patent does not guarantee production, but I doubt many would find this idea anything but brilliant. Let’s hope that Ford was not just reserving it to prevent competitors of making it reality. It would be great to see something like this materializing.
Image (c) Ford
