Stanford graduate students have designed and built an electric car that may see some large-scale production and distribution.
The name of the car is WENG and it stands for Where Everyone Needs to Go.
This first version of the WENG electric car car takes four hours to charge and can go about 10 miles at 15 to 20 mph. But an optimized system with the best batteries and appropriate motors available today could go 30 miles at 35 mph.
The WENG features a tubular steel frame resting on four wheels. The throttle, speed control, batteries and brakes, all reside in the car’s rear wheels. Power comes from a pair of brushless scooter motors in the (scooter-sized) wheels. Passengers hold onto bicycle-like handlebars, which have a steering joystick at the driver’s side that helps in controlling the car.
It would cost from $5,000 to about $10,000; more than a golf cart, less than an electric car.
[source: ABC]
