Horse power might be obsolete, some designers think it could still be used — in a fashion way. For the Honda Design Challenge, created to foster imaginative concept car and show off some new orientations, some Honda R&D teams came up with “the Running Bus”, a human-powered bus.
It features 10 stationary runners for fitness lovers, and reuse the muscular energy to power the vehicle. It maybe not the best idea to convince people to do more sports or bring up sustainable transportation, but don’t laugh, Scania, one of the biggest truck maker in Europe, has tested one of those human-powered buses in Angers, France. The prototype was moved by energy produced by stationary bicycles that passengers were using.
Obstacles to see more of these projects are mainly cultural and technical. Cultural because we mainly consider cars are places to sit or sleep. But as they turned out to be mobile living rooms, they could end up in a place where we exercise a little. Technical because it demands a lot of conception to create a power engine that transform the human slow running motion into a high energy source.
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