Helios was clearly inspired by the Jurassic era, when dinosaurs ruled the Earth. Helios is a concept design for an off-road electric solar-powered vehicle. When you take a break from your off-roading and stop the vehicle, the car will spread its “wings” which are made of photovolatic panels, in order to capture the sun’s rays and charge up the battery.
You’ve seen the concept in nature, where some animals have stretchable skin that absorb heat and light. A lizard might stop on a rock to take a breather and as he does, he opens up his extra skin and recharges. Same thing here. The Helios Concept won the Best Use of Technology at the Interior Motives Design Awards 2008. Pretty awesome.
This is one sweet looking single seat vehicle designed by Carlos Arturo Torres Tovar, who obviously channels the future like some crazy modern techno-shaman. I don’t know whether to drive it or just drool over it for an hour.
The idea is that the car works mainly through articulation meaning that this vehicle remains low at high speeds and it will also display helpful information during long trips through voice command by the driver. RD is convenient on busy roads as well as on long distance drives. Looks comfy too. It’s definitely a cool one to drive, but one problem. No room for a girl beside you. Check out a video below.
Named Blade Runner, this concept has nothing to do with chasing replicants. It’s a bus/train concept from British firm Silvertip Design. It will drive on roads just like other normal wheeled vehicles, but it also sports a set of retractable train-wheels that it can deploy to ride the rail lines. It looks like something that should be dueling with KITT on the open road. It’s supposed to carry 105 standing and sitting people and could well be a nice solution to long commutes. The fact that it straddles both the rails and the streets makes it very promising.
While this pyramid-shaped car might look pretty goofy, it’s actually an energy-efficient electric vehicle which laughs in the face of today’s gas guzzlers. And with gasoline costing upwards of $4 bucks a gallon these days, anything that runs on alternative energy seems like a welcome change.
Created by Sugar Grove, Illinois inventor Greg Zanis, the Dream Car 123 tools down the street at up to 40 mph. A single 3.5 hour charge provides about 240 miles of driving for only about $5 in electricity cost. Take that gasoline!
The vehicle is powered by 80 lead-acid batteries which drive four independent motors, allowing the car to make a complete 360-degree turn on a dime.
Zanis claims future generations of his car will use lithium batteries to achieve 2 to 4 times the distance per charge, and is targeting vehicle up to speeds as high as 200 mph and more.
The Dream Car’s unique pyramid shape was designed to leverage head winds to produce downward force to hold the car to the road. The single passenger compartment is surrounded by durable bullet-proof glass on all four sides, providing 360-degree visibility and protecting its occupant. A special honeycomb layer inside of the cars shell provides additional safety for the driver at all times.
The battery-operated car even features a dramatic neon lighting system, which makes it really stand out as it tools around in the dark. You certainly won’t miss this car driving down the road.
It currently costs Zanis about $8,000 in materials to create one of his Dream Cars. He has plans to ramp up and start mass-producing these in the next few years, with a retail price around $24,000 (which could drop as low as $16,000 after government alternative fuel incentives). For more information on his vehicles, be sure to visit the Dream Car 123 website.
The Di-Cycle, by GBO Design is an amphibious bike designed for the city of Helmond in the Netherlands, because the city has just as many watery channels as it does actual roads. Therefore, the residents all want to make like amphibians, skimming across water.
The idea is that riders would be able to skim over the water just as if they were going across the land. Somehow I just don’t see that happening. It’s more likely to flip you over and fill your lungs with water as it keeps going, eventually depositing your corpse on the road your soul never made it to. It remains a concept for the moment thankfully.
One look and you can tell that this vehicle is all sound. It would probably drive down your street one early morning and break every window so that when you woke up, window replacement companies would be on the move and busy all week. That’s not what it was designed for however. It’s the creation of Dutch artist Olaf Mooij, who prefers his sound loud and on the outside of his car rather then inside.
The DJ Mobile is designed to be used as a mobile PA system. It houses two turn-tables and as you can see, a rear full of speakers. Find a party, park this monster, then operate it from a DJ platform while you stand through the sunroof. All I can say is, anything driving behind the DJ mobile best not tailgate as it could surely make you deaf.
Those who are always looking for the latest innovations in tailgating will want to take a serious look at the Manvan. Designed by Aimee LoDuca, this oversized behemoth of a van targets football fans who need more nachos, more beer and just plain more of everything.
It’s inspired by the Nissan NV200, and can expand in the rear just like you after a huge meal. It will house almost everything that you need for indoor and outdoor use. We first told you about the Nissan NV200 almost a full year ago, but it’s still at a conceptual stage, despite being completely awesome and extremely useful. One day soon we hope to see it realized. Man’s first parties were in caves, man’s next parties will be in vans.
This concept ice vehicle from Lotus would be perfect for some Bond villain from one of the old movies. But it wasn’t developed by a madman wanting to take over the world, it was developed for Antarctica on the Moon Regan TransAntarctic Expedition. It can run on snow and ice, sitting on three skis like a snow mobile.
The vehicle gets it’s power from biofuel, but is propeller-driven and even sports an ice penetrating radar that is capable of detecting potentially dangerous crevasses. It was tested in Sweden so that it can withstand the harsh polar elements. I don’t care what they built it for, it would be hard not to beat up on this thing joyriding across the arctic.
Helios was clearly inspired by the Jurassic era, when dinosaurs ruled the Earth. Helios is a concept design for an off-road electric solar-powered vehicle. When you take a break from your off-roading and stop the vehicle, the car will spread its “wings” which are made of photovolatic panels, in order to capture the sun’s rays and charge up the battery. 
This is one sweet looking single seat vehicle designed by Carlos Arturo Torres Tovar, who obviously channels the future like some crazy modern techno-shaman. I don’t know whether to drive it or just drool over it for an hour. 
Named Blade Runner, this concept has nothing to do with chasing replicants. It’s a bus/train concept from British firm Silvertip Design. It will drive on roads just like other normal wheeled vehicles, but it also sports a set of retractable train-wheels that it can deploy to ride the rail lines. It looks like something that should be dueling with KITT on the open road. It’s supposed to carry 105 standing and sitting people and could well be a nice solution to long commutes. The fact that it straddles both the rails and the streets makes it very promising.
The Di-Cycle, by GBO Design is an amphibious bike designed for the city of Helmond in the Netherlands, because the city has just as many watery channels as it does actual roads. Therefore, the residents all want to make like amphibians, skimming across water.
One look and you can tell that this vehicle is all sound. It would probably drive down your street one early morning and break every window so that when you woke up, window replacement companies would be on the move and busy all week. That’s not what it was designed for however. It’s the creation of Dutch artist Olaf Mooij, who prefers his sound loud and on the outside of his car rather then inside. 
Those who are always looking for the latest innovations in tailgating will want to take a serious look at the Manvan. Designed by Aimee LoDuca, this oversized behemoth of a van targets football fans who need more nachos, more beer and just plain more of everything. 
This concept ice vehicle from Lotus would be perfect for some Bond villain from one of the old movies. But it wasn’t developed by a madman wanting to take over the world, it was developed for Antarctica on the Moon Regan TransAntarctic Expedition. It can run on snow and ice, sitting on three skis like a snow mobile. 
