Meet SHANE, a Giant Hoverboard With Seating for Five
Automakers aren’t the only ones trying to reimagine urban mobility. Bridging the gap between cars and gyropods, here’s a one-of-a-kind vehicle called SHANE that impresses in many ways beyond the fact it appears to come straight out of a Blade Runner movie.
It’s the brainchild of Shane Chen, who is widely known for inventing the Hoverboard and Solowheel (electricy unicycle). No bigger than your average small car, SHANE combines a pair of oversized wheels with a capsule-style cabin. And it’s not just for personal use thanks to a five-passenger interior layout.
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"Two-wheeled cars have simply not been practical or stable enough for everyday driving until now,” Chen says. “I was excited to create a car concept with two wheels that can go at high speeds and be energy efficient."
SHANE uses a sophisticated system that moves the cabin forward and backward depending on acceleration and braking in order to shift its centre of gravity relative to the wheels and thus remain level at all times, making the drive safe and mitigating motion sickness. A rear wing deploys at high speeds to increase downforce and stability.
For cornering, obstacle avoidance and parking manoeuvres, another control system acts as a differential and individually adjusts wheel speed. The vehicle can literally turn on a dime and move into tight parallel parking spots like it’s no big deal.
But how does it steer? It’s not clear based on the video above, although there appears to be some kind of control interface between the front seats. Specs including battery capacity and energy consumption are not available. Ditto for the size of the wheels, which are wrapped in low-rolling resistance tires.
While SHANE remains a simulated concept at this point, Chen hopes to find partners to make it come to life. Don’t hold your breath, as they say. Something like this isn’t coming to a street near you anytime soon. But how fantastic will it be when it does.