Automotive

Eggasus: putting clean urban transport in an eggshell

Eggasus: putting clean urban transport in an eggshell
The Eggasus is a three-wheeled electric vehicle fitted with an electric hub motor, enclosed cab, tinted windows, a seat, and instrument display panel
The Eggasus is a three-wheeled electric vehicle fitted with an electric hub motor, enclosed cab, tinted windows, a seat, and instrument display panel
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Eggasus is a new personal transport solution for urban areas and university campuses
1/5
Eggasus is a new personal transport solution for urban areas and university campuses
The three-wheeled electric vehicle is fitted with an electric hub motor in the front wheel, enclosed cab, tinted windows, a seat, and instrument display panel
2/5
The three-wheeled electric vehicle is fitted with an electric hub motor in the front wheel, enclosed cab, tinted windows, a seat, and instrument display panel
The team is tapping the power of social networking to get its project on the road and are taking orders through social venture funding site Indiegogo
3/5
The team is tapping the power of social networking to get its project on the road and are taking orders through social venture funding site Indiegogo
The designers are veterans with vast experience in specialty gas and electric vehicles
4/5
The designers are veterans with vast experience in specialty gas and electric vehicles
The Eggasus is a three-wheeled electric vehicle fitted with an electric hub motor, enclosed cab, tinted windows, a seat, and instrument display panel
5/5
The Eggasus is a three-wheeled electric vehicle fitted with an electric hub motor, enclosed cab, tinted windows, a seat, and instrument display panel
View gallery - 5 images

Fans of personal, futuristic eco cars have something to "eggcited" about with the arrival of Eggasus, which is slated for northern hemisphere fall launch in the US. The designers are currently taking orders of the cute, no-emissions three-wheeler, which recently made the finalist list of the Sierra Nevada Innovation Challenge.

Eggasus is designed for one person only, with the driver protected from the elements by an all-weather enclosure, which gives the vehicle its egg shape.Underneath the shell is a three-wheeled electric vehicle, fitted with an electric hub motor in the front wheel, enclosed cab, tinted windows, a seat, and instrument display panel.

It reaches a range of up to 50 miles (80.4 kilometers), with a top speed of 25 mph (40.23 km/h). Although it is basically a scooter with a retro-modernist swagger, the style-conscious driver won’t get soaked in rain or get the wind blowing on his or her face, but will likely attract looks from passers by.

The Eggasus team claims to have vast experience in specialty gas and electric vehicles, including designing and constructing cars for mainstream auto companies, as well as race cars.

They are pitching their Eggasus as a solution for people living in an increasingly congested and urbanized world, which suffers from air and noise pollution and a lack of parking spaces - the makers say twelve Eggasus vehicles will fit in one normal parking space. Besides urban travel, the designers claim the Eggasus would be perfect for intra-campus transportation and as a mobile advertising billboard.

Autonomous versions of the Eggasus are also on the drawing board and the development team is seeking partners to develop a system that would see the eggs forming trains via a wireless electronic “yoke.”

The team is tapping the power of social networking to get its project on the road. They are taking orders through social venture funding site Indiegogo and aim to begin production this year. Pre-production models come with a price tag of US$5,000 a piece. However, there are a few different purchasing options, with cheaper prices for a kit or the Eggasus shell alone, while those buying in bulk looking to sign on as a dealer will also get a discount rate.

The video below shows the Eggasus in action.

Source: Eggasus

Prototype Electric Vehicle

View gallery - 5 images
25 comments
25 comments
Dave Holland
needs to show some cornering, braking and specs to be convincing....
The Hoff
Where's the video of it turning Eggasus? I'm sure we all want to see it handle at even 25 mph. At first I figured it's going to tip at even 25mph but maybe not, The top looks very thin and light and with batteries and a motor in the bottom it might just work. Maybe custom car builders or shelby could give it a cooler look or maybe an crowd sourced project would help. And rename it too.
The Stav
Exactly what is needed to get people out of gas guzzlers and on to cycleways, urban streets etc. I hope the capsule is a safety cell of sorts and there is a seat belt option. Public transport (trains) are becoming so well utilized now it's getting tough to even get on one 5 miles from the CBD in peak periods. Bicycle numbers are increasing exponentially but the weather will always be an issue. I envisage other companies will want to get similar vehicles out there particularly from China.
Gadgeteer
It looks like they just took a Rascal mobility scooter and slapped a shell on it. There's no way this thing is anywhere near street-legal in its current form. No turn signals or brake lights, no license plate, inadequate headlight, no seatbelt, no windshield wiper, among many other problems. The weather sealing on the curved door looks problematic and having a pillar right in the middle of the windshield would be distracting at best, unsafe at worst by impeding vision. It wouldn't be covered under federal NEV regulations because it lacks four wheels, so it couldn't be titled or registered for road use.
Pardon my skepticism, but if these guys are as accomplished as they claim, having "vast experience in specialty gas and electric vehicles, including designing and constructing cars for mainstream auto companies, as well as race cars," why won't they identify so much as one team member or any of their previous projects? You can't expect people to trust you if you won't provide any information whatsoever. The amateurish website also raises suspicions, not that a professionally-designed site is any guarantee of a good product.
dgate
This is in the usual American format of being too large, Needs to be lower since you don't need to stand in it. @ Gadgeteer...There's no way this thing is anywhere near street-legal ?? who said it needs to be street legal the idea is to do away with mixed modes of transport using the same space. Of course if these just replace cars in the same numbers then no doubt some form of control would have to be implemented. This concept has been showing up at motor shows for the past few years mostly touted by Toyota.
martinkopplow
Well, my dear fellow designers, it's an electric wheelchair with a roof on it. Nothing unusual, nothing innovative, you can easily buy similar 'vehicles' since decades, though most of them admittedly have a slightly higher price tag. Will those who just cannot design please stop claiming being designers? It's bad for the trade.
Dawar Saify
My concern is a higher centre of gravity and managing in windy weather, it could topple over.
Gerard Gallagher
Looks like somebody pranking a Go-One Velomobile..
Chris Jordan
I already have two 3-wheel wheelchairs- an Electric Mobility and a Pride Legend. Now that I have "hot-rodded" my E.M.; I gotta get me an Eggasus eggshell for my P.L. ..... then Bonneville here I come for a new speed run!
DrPepper59
This looks like one of those joke vehicles that someone made to see how all the "greenies" would slober over it. My grandma wouldn't be caught dead in that thing. These guys may have designed for the major car companies and presented this and gotten fired for it. (Deservedly so.) It looks stupid and it's a rolling death trap especially if it was on the streets with a real car. (even the mini cooper)
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