14 DAY TRIAL // Normal diesel cars are all well and good, not to mention familiar, but pull the road from under them and they're mostly useless, especially if you want to travel through some undergrowth. There are other means of transportation, though.
Karts are often made to look like F1 cars, but there are many other designs as well, from small with large wheels to large with even larger wheels.
Swedish company Zoomability has introduced a new kind of kart, the Zoom 4-wheel drive electric vehicle, which is a bit different from most automobiles in the world.
We are not talking about the size, even though it is quite compact. What we are referring to is the way the vehicle is controlled.
Zoom is entirely hand-controlled
The Zoom uses a steering mechanism not unlike that of bicycle handlebars, where both the acceleration and breaking systems are accessed.
This is different from most cars which have the acceleration and breaking handled via foot-level pedals. Same with bikes, motorized or not. Given the way the Zoom works and what it is made for, however, the approach was quite ideal.
The new vehicle has a unique frame that keeps all four aluminum wheels (clad in 16 x 2.5-inch pneumatic all-terrain tires) on the ground at all times, even when crossing over large and weird bumps, roots, boulders or stumps.
The flexibility of the suspension springs means that the legs have to stay above the entire thing the whole time, hence the lack of foot controls.
We dare say that Zoom could lead to the creation of rough terrain karts for even elderly people to the disabled.
All the while, the invention is a fun way to make one's way through a forest, even if the battery won't last for all that long.
Still, the Zoom ought to manage 25 to 35 miles (40 to 56 km), thanks to the four 1,000-watt hub motors, one in each wheel. 48-volt lithium-iron-phosphate batteries generate the power.
Availability
The Zoom 4-wheel rough terrain electric vehicle weighs 150 lb / 68 kg and is already selling in various European countries (has been for 3 years oddly enough) but now can be acquired by US general customers as well, for $12,000 / €10,500.
