A SELF-BALANCING motorbike that defies gravity using cutting-edge technology is ready to redefine city travel. Equipped with a driver's seat and a steering wheel, the futuristic mode of transport will merge the thrill of a motorbike with the safety and comfort of a car. Designed by San Francisco-based company Lit Motors, the AEV (auto-balancing electric vehicle) or C-1 will be able to pop back up after being knocked into thanks to its stabilising technology.
Refuelling is also rapid and efficient, with a full charge achievable in just five minutes at a standard 110V Tesla supercharger - supporting about 170 miles of range at an economical $1.25 per charge. The AEV is the brainchild of company CEO Daniel Kim.
His inspiration for the vehicle came more than 20 years ago after he was nearly crushed by a chassis while assembling a Land Rover Defender. That near-death experience led him to decide that cars needed "chopping in half" - and so the two-seater car-motorcycle hybrid was born. Speaking to The Sun, he said: “I had the idea in 2003 while building a Land Rover Defender.
I had a field accident that made me think about why are we driving around alone in these 4,000 to 5,000lb vehicles. “Most people, approximately 80 per cent in California and the US, are driving alone, so it just made me think, ‘why don’t we cut the car in half?' "We could have a fully enclosed motorcycle that has all the safety comforts and features of a car but with less parts, less complexity, same .