Bath University student Guy Barkley is producing a pedal-assisted electric vehicle, the ‘Dolphin Pod’ which he describes as “a safe and affordable way to eliminate congestion and city pollution whilst increasing people’s health”.
The Dolphin Pod has three wheels, offers a raised driving position with lightly tilting steering (akin to the feel of a bicycle) to improve stability and has an electric motor, which will have a range of 25+ miles on pure electric motor.
An optional canopy shields users from the British elements. Users can choose to pedal as little or as much as the like.
Member of Parliament for Bath, Ben Howlett, test drove the Dolphin Pod and said: “It is great to see innovation like this coming out of Bath University.
“I very much hope initiatives like this will go right through to production and provide new transport solutions, that are less polluting and more space efficient.
“Guy’s project has been enabled by a £25,000 grant from the Department for Transport to build the prototype and I hope this will enable fleets to be developed in the future.
“The ride itself was great fun and with the combination of pedal and electric gives you more power than just pedals alone – which I can see would be a great combination with Bath’s hills!”