Personal electric vehicles aren’t so new, and by now we’re probably used to seeing the elderly and infirm getting around on electric wheelchairs and scooters.
When you let a bunch of engineers out of their little boxes, you never know what they’ll come up with, like the Segway, which has never really gotten out of its little niche. Hyundai’s IDEA Festival is one of these off-the-leash days for automobile and mobility engineers, and the Hyundai E4U concept personal electric vehicle is an odd one. Here’s a video [turn off your speakers, it’s not THAT exciting] of the demonstrator moving the vehicle around a little bit:
http://youtu.be/tkdWIjXsspE
The wheel on the bottom turns only in one direction, so steering and movement aren’t particularly easy to control, kind of like a floor buffer, but I’m sure with practice it can be just as easy to maneuver. The personal electric vehicle concept is called E4U – Egg, Evolution, Electric, Eco-friendly – and is designed to travel on narrow walkways and roads. Powered by a rechargeable 24V battery pack and a 500W electric motor, it weighs around 175lbs. The hood doubles as a helmet, which keeps bugs out of your face at a blistering 18mph. No word yet on whether something like this will ever be produced.
