Taurus concept adds a touch of bullish masculinity to personal transportation

Ah, the old electric two-wheeler, a dream of so many ecologically conscious geeks and yet never popular enough to achieve its Gaia-saving objective. Enter designer Eric Lanuza, with his own spin on the idea, who brings in a few exciting curves straight from the world of motorbikes, but keeps the self-balancing antics of the concept's progenitor. Setting aside the cute toro theme, we reckon the addition of a seat will be one of the biggest differences, since -- though they may not be wiling to admit it -- most people don't consider something a vehicle unless they can sit in or on it. Hit the source for a photo gallery, though we'd advise against holding out any hopes for this making it past the concept drawing board.

[abedinthehouse Posted Mar 26th 2010 5:58AM]

Hot Ride ; ]

[n0ne Posted Mar 26th 2010 6:38AM]

@abedinthehouse

Why you lie? That chick is ass molasses.

[AKJ Posted Mar 26th 2010 9:24AM]

@abedinthehouse
Straddling models always FTW!

[Duckman Posted Mar 26th 2010 12:51PM]

@abedinthehouse

is...is that a unitard?

[Steve Miller Posted Mar 26th 2010 1:59PM]

It's a segway crotch-rocket...

[LordBrian Posted Mar 26th 2010 6:09AM]

Is this some kind of crazy new sex toy ? If so can I order 3 please.

[Pizzicato Posted Mar 26th 2010 6:44AM]

@LordBrian

May your wish come true: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/79/IT_%28South_Park%3B_The_Entity%29.jpeg

[Le Big Mac Posted Mar 26th 2010 9:19AM]

@LordBrian

Mobile sybian

[Jf Posted Mar 26th 2010 10:13AM]

@Pizzicato My God - this is exactly what I thought of when I saw this.

[Atkins Posted Mar 26th 2010 6:11AM]

What's the point? Put the wheels one behind the other and let it be a motorbike.

[drange Posted Mar 26th 2010 6:13AM]

@Atkins
That's exactly what I was about to say but you beat me to it. All it needs is 2 wheels in line and a set of handlebars.

[Decoy Posted Mar 26th 2010 6:17AM]

It needs to be FAST.

[Big Posted Mar 26th 2010 6:19AM]

@Decoy Yea, really Fast! Then I'd love to see it stopping :D

[Vlad Savov Posted Mar 26th 2010 6:19AM]

@Atkins Inline wheels wouldn't self-balance in the same fashion.

[Atkins Posted Mar 26th 2010 6:21AM]

@Vlad Savov True that, but is it that important? And it's cool to lean into the turn!!

[Atkins Posted Mar 26th 2010 6:22AM]

@Big LOL. Just pictured it in my head.

[Twoleaf Posted Mar 26th 2010 6:30AM]

WALL-E!

[KAL326 Posted Mar 26th 2010 9:41AM]

@Twoleaf More like Dr. Strange Segway.

[t2af Posted Mar 26th 2010 6:34AM]

looks great .. i'd take one

[mschipperheyn Posted Mar 26th 2010 6:45AM]

Looks like a sex toy

[n230099 Posted Mar 26th 2010 6:58AM]

Still, it will be relegated to airport security and park patrols. For the average person there's nowhere to ride this type of thing. Too slow and not roadworthy for the street and they don't belong on the sidewalk.

[thisNthat Posted Mar 26th 2010 8:17AM]

@n230099

Look at the speedo in the pics. It reads 90. Whether it's km/h or mph - it should be fast enough. I'd still be afraid to break my neck in a turn...

[onlymyrailgun Posted Mar 26th 2010 9:38AM]

@thisNthat
Could be RPM or meters per minute...

[omnomnom Posted Mar 26th 2010 10:07AM]

@n230099 And I bet it's fun to ride in the rain or snow.

[omnomnom Posted Mar 26th 2010 10:09AM]

@n230099 I'll bet it's fun to drive in the rain. And snow. It would be useless where I live.

[KyleLipp Posted Mar 26th 2010 8:02AM]

yeeee. haw. (it helps to picture Droopy when you read that.:)

[stoffer Posted Mar 26th 2010 8:07AM]

@Atkins Yeah, exactly. This is overkill. It's possible to make it working, but is just a waste of time and resources. Also, a normal bike is better because you can do some sport while going to work and that makes you healthier. When I lived in Denmark I cycled everywhere (excellent network of SAFE bike roads) and I felt better than I do now when I do not cycle so much.

[Evergrim Posted Mar 26th 2010 8:15AM]

Reminds me of the Bike-thing that Battle Angle Alita rides in the Manga
http://fusedfilm.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/gally_cycle_big.jpg
they just added a Wheel an removed the guns.

[onlymyrailgun Posted Mar 26th 2010 9:40AM]

@Evergrim
They do look similar. In the picture you linked, there appears to be a smaller wheel in the back.

[Nitesh Posted Mar 26th 2010 8:36AM]

She is rather masculine, but I wasn't going to say it. Rude, Engadget. Rude.

[69camaroSS Posted Mar 26th 2010 8:43AM]

Unnecessarily high center of gravity, much high that a sportbike.

[mydestiny Posted Mar 26th 2010 8:51AM]

I could swear this is just a Segway with a motocycle back attached to it...don't really think it will become very popular

[snoxie Posted Mar 26th 2010 9:02AM]

I wanna see this thing moooove! Do bulls moo?

[Jibaro009 Posted Mar 26th 2010 9:20AM]

Reminds me of the P.U.M.A.
Any ideas what happened with it?

[Elad Posted Mar 26th 2010 9:59AM]

is that fergie?

[killplay Posted Mar 26th 2010 10:38AM]

whats the price?

[darkmax Posted Mar 26th 2010 10:51AM]

hmm... what powers it?

The stand looks... erm.....

[dpaul420 Posted Mar 26th 2010 11:13AM]

PLEASE ADD ARMS and a touch of sentience...I WANT A RIDEBACK!!

http://dragonballclassics.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/ride-back.png

[uclatommy Posted Mar 26th 2010 11:36AM]

No, they should make it TRANSFORM into a motorcycle by allowing the wheels to split up into from and back wheels.. So you can go from the freeway to the indoor mall without ever getting off your vehicle.

[Ed T Posted Mar 26th 2010 11:52AM]

Designer watched too many Hercules movies as a kid, check,
Engineering? What's that?, check
No practical uses, check,
Insane price tag, check

OK, it's a go -- we've got the cover product for the 2010 Hammacher Schlemmer catalog!

[Sean Connery Posted Mar 26th 2010 12:04PM]

@Atkins

This wouldn't work. While cruising, if the driver were to hit an object or a pothole, the other wheel would cause it to spin out while the other wheel regains traction. This would never have been a concept if they considered this simple fact. The Segway, on the other hand, still allows the driver to "hop-off", and isn't meant to faster than 20km/ph.

[N8Sayer Posted Mar 26th 2010 12:11PM]

Sorry Engadget. This already exists, in a fashion.
http://www.popsci.com/node/21644

[N8Sayer Posted Mar 26th 2010 12:13PM]

@N8Sayer Oh, and just for a followup. He modded his design to shift to a more linear style the next year, and add more stability.
http://www.popsci.com/cars/article/2009-11/electric-unicycle-transforms-two-wheeler

[crearian Posted Mar 26th 2010 12:22PM]

Looks like fun. Cough cough.

[Ar3s Posted Mar 26th 2010 12:22PM]

Sweet, this is one step closer to my motorcycle mech

http://img7.anidb.net/pics/anime/33394.jpg

[jasonkburden Posted Mar 26th 2010 12:24PM]

Something about this model that really makes me want to buy what ever she is selling! smi.sh

[Sir Rutherford Welch Posted Mar 26th 2010 12:58PM]

Is no one else reminded The IT!?:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/79/IT_(South_Park;_The_Entity).jpeg

[Samurai Jack Posted Mar 26th 2010 1:50PM]

I was reminded of this: http://www.gamershell.com/static/screenshots/11215/241351_full.jpg

But I don't think this was ever very popular.

[joelaf Posted Mar 26th 2010 2:15PM]

They're remaking Urban Cowboy?

[MichaelDola Posted Mar 26th 2010 6:11PM]

I feel like a tool just looking at that thing.