CAR
French company builds all-electric Spider Car
The car can be assembled easily and can be adapted to the size of the driver.
A new four-wheeled electric car with spider-like arms that move independently to tackle tough off-road terrain, rolls into production.
The Swincar is produced by Mecanroc, a company based in the south of France. The company teamed up with French architect Pascal Rambaud, an avid outdoorsman, to design the look and features of the vehicle.
Each wheel has its own electric motor and independent suspension at the end of each arm meaning they can tilt independently with the driver's seat swinging in between, allowing the driver to stay upright.
The company says the car can drive on slopes with an inclination of up to 70%. The 1.3 metre long by 1.3 metre wide vehicle is made of aluminium bars, weighs 150 kg and can reach a maximum speed of 30-40 km/h.
Mecanroc's head of business and finance, Thierry Jammes, says that while Quad bikes can take riders off-roading at faster speeds, the Swincar is a different type of experience.
"We have a vehicle that is entirely electric, whilst the vast majority of quad bikes have combustion engines -- so the "Swincar" is non-noisy and non-polluting -- and has the ability to cross extreme terrain which means that you can do things with the Swincar that you can't do with other vehicles with normal kinematics," he said.
The car can be assembled easily and can be adapted to the size of the driver.
It was originally designed for leisure pursuits and the vast majority of orders have come from North America, where all-road mechanical recreational vehicles are particularly popular.
Mecanroc is already developing plans for the spider car in other areas too, including civil security, defence, agriculture and farming.