Fleethorse's Naturcar: sometimes one horsepower is all you need
By Ryan Block 
posted Sep 1st 2007 8:29PM
posted Sep 1st 2007 8:29PM
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PETAmobile =)
Oh you beat me to it..
Im betting PETA will start the a "Free The Slaves" campain if this ever does make it to a market..
Adding an interesting layer to all of this, http://fleethorse.com/ suggests that this contraption be used for advertising, to show how environmentally friendly your company is. With PETA in existence, it just might backfire for some people.
Hey, Ryan, why have you been posting so much recently? Not that I mind of course, but did someone get fired and you're filling for them or something exciting like that?
I actually do try to post as much as possible. A lot goes into running this joint so sometimes it's not as much writing as I'd like, but I think the best way to lose touch is to stop participating in our core competency: writing the news.
I was about to ask the same question but couldn't put up the testes to do it :) Thanks Mr. Freezie.
Hey Ryan, it was nice listening to you on TWIT last week. I hope you get invited more often as Engadget breaks a lot of the news others talk about on their shows/sites/podcasts. Give my best to Peter and hope to see you guys in Boston again sometime.
until it takes a crap
From the referenced article:
"The same belt moves the animal's "exhaust" out of the horse's compartment into a holding area beneath the car."
Poor horsie :(
LMAO, I'd hate to be there to see what's left behind after a rear-end car wreck caused by this horse car thingy driving 3 mph on the highway
Yeah.
I figured out a few ways to improve the design:
#1 - Get rid of the car shell.
#2 - Put the person on top of the horse.
#3 - Give the person a poncho/warm jacket so that they are protected from rain/cold.
My improved design is cheaper, has less wind resistance and smells better.
I call it the Carless Horse.
Carless Horse. lol
Good stuff. :)
This is so 1946. All the modern people use Cheetahs.
Yabba dabba doo?
I think they're getting a little too much sun out there in Dubai.
Why is this on Engadget? this article is ridiculous . This is pointless.
Anyone can put a random article on the net. BOORRRING. two thumbs down.
Why is this on Engadget? this commenr is ridiculous . This is pointless.
Anyone can put a random comment on the net. BOORRRING. two thumbs down.
Just in case you missed that.
He used what you said....and then turned it around on you.
And what happens when someone (even you) has to honk their horn? Yea...
Here's the deal with the car..
The engine needs servicing every 30k miles, 60k, 90k.... Your local vet has all the shots and fulids needed.
Engine swaps are way complicated for this vehicle btw... not for beginners!
Later on they will come out with the Fleethorse Type-R that will feature a race horse and a jockey as the engine...
A camel will be featured in the off road edition, thats currently a prototype... They are planning a whole line of Animahicles (pronounced i-nee'-ma-vehicles). The bus and limo versions are currently in design phase.
This is both unsafe and idiotic.
so anyone here actually have or know someone who has horses? i want to know the math involved with feeding and maintaining a horse. plus all the land you need when its not in that sauna of a machine.
just shows you what happens when retards try too hard to think outside of the box.
Taking care of horses is crazy. Though it would probably cost less than current gas prices, you can't put a price on going ridiculously slow and taking care of a living thing. Even if some people are so emotionally attached to their car and talk to it at night.
If you put 10 retards in a room and you give them infinite amount of time.... this is the result.
The costs of horse ownership can get very expensive. It's much cheaper to operate a car for a year. The average board depending on where you live in is $500/month and normally that includes daily care, turnout, a clean stall, feed. Add in vet bills which are about $300/year for a healthy horse (I'm including a basic checkup and vaccinations and deworming in this) and in the $10,000s for a horse that runs into some problems. Shoeing is $40 every six weeks. Supplements can be about $1,000 but that's optional. A good comfortable saddle can be over $600. I've kept horses of my own and now I work for an equine vet.
It smells like shit in there!
Hardly green. Once that horse starts farting, your windows will go down fast. Methane is a greenhouse gas.
I don't think people realize the level of polution this thing is going to create.
Let's ignore the methane for the moment. Here's a term: "mucking the stall"
BTW it's not called mucking because there are unpleasant muddy substances involved, it is that unpleasant muddy substances are named after this chore.
gotta love that new car smell.
The trojans would be pleased.
Its a reverse Trojan Horse. You could pull up silently next to somebody..... and then start flinging the shit at them.
It is kind of funny though, because of how much it misses the point. It'd kinda be like having you walk on a treadmill in a "vehicle," which then turns generators and charges a battery, so that you can run an electric motor.
Others have already made the point but, if you're gonna do that... just get out and freakin walk!
It's not clear, but is that a horse in a treadmill powered car?
If not, dibs on the horse in a treadmillcar patent.
"The Naturcar, however, uses electricity. No, not to shock, but to power motors on the belt that gets the horse moving" This is about as efficient as grinding down a tree to make a toothpick. They should have just put a bunch of mice on the treadmill with a hungry cat watching.
I was reading this, thinking that 1HP wouldn't be enough to overcome all the friction in the system. But then I looked at the website, which says the horse will be monitored & air-conditioned. A/C uses more than 1HP, so this vehicle can't be horse-powered! It's an electric car with a horse in, which uses far more energy than a normal electric car!
From WIKIPEDIA...
R. D. Stevenson and R. J. Wasserzug published an article in Nature 364, 195-195 (15 July 1993) calculating the upper limit to an animal's power output. The peak power over a few seconds has been measured to be as high as 14.9 hp. However, for longer periods an average horse produces less than one horsepower.
This is by far the most entertaining post I've seen on Engadget in a long while
Amish Lexus?
Sadly, no Naturcars passed an emissions inspection..
Internal Fleethorse note (proposed ad campaign):
and a new hairstyle is just a horse-chew away
tada...
haha
Damn that thing is horsey!!
best thread on Engadget I've read in a long while... I'm wiping the tears from my eyes from laughing so much.
funniest thread ever.... http://www.engadget.com/2006/10/23/inventors-claim-to-turn-300-microwaves-into-megawatt-energy-weap/#comments
best post on that thread
American Copywriter @ Oct 23rd 2006 4:54PM
The drawback of this weapon is....
Can't help but think of all the wasted power generated by rows of people running on treadmills.