With car bloat so prevalent on US roads these days, you’d be hard pressed to find a compact car in any typical parking lot. But if everyone is arming up with SUVs, then I’ll just have to go even bigger with my own double decker bus. Since a 9,000 lb Hummer has somehow become an acceptable way to get the groceries, then what could be wrong with driving a two-story bus? And as an added bonus, this might just be the tallest vehicle I’ve ever featured as part of this Awesomely Weird Alibaba Electric Vehicle of the Week series!
Yep, that’s right! I found it while browsing through Alibaba’s wonderfully weird assortment of electric vehicle designs.
Or more accurately, our talented graphics guy found it, though I’m starting to think he just liked the fact that it had limited front windows to make his job easier.
Either way, I think I look pretty darn good behind the wheel of an electric double decker bus. I might have a whole new career on my hands.
Forget the fact that I have no idea how to operate it. In fact, I don’t even know how it works. There are conflicting reports in the description that it is either track-based or has hidden wheels, though there may be multiple models. That’s usually how these high-end outfits work, creating multiple models to pleasure a wide range of potential shoppers.
Tracks are going to seriously cramp my style and make it harder to go full-American by taking a vehicle this size to the grocery store for a single gallon of milk. But then again, you’d never have to worry about a flat tire, which would seem problematic based on both the hidden wheels and the fact that I’d rather not be on the side of the road jacking up a bus that looks like it should be giving group tours around Big Ben.
There’s definitely an angle-of-no-return when you start lifting these things up and I don’t really want to find out what it is.
Then there’s the small issue of the electric double decker bus only having a 5 kW (6.6 hp) motor and a top speed of 15.5 mph (25 km/h). That’s not very fast for around the town use, but perhaps that keeps it from getting laid down sideways in a sharp turn.
At just over 10 feet tall (3.06 meters), this thing probably has the rollover of a porta-potty.
But unlike a porta-potty, it comes with four-wheel hydraulic braking, rack and pinion powered steering, sound system with CD player, and seat belts! Well, there’s a single seat belt for the driver. Everyone else is on their own. Better grab a rail, I’m hitting the next turn at top speed!
At least the range looks pretty decent at up to 120 km (75 miles). That’s a solid five hours of driving and I can all but assure you that I won’t want to be in this thing for that long anyway.
With a price of just US $9,000, I can use the savings to hire a crew of bus drivers to operate my slow-poke extra-tippy bus service. You know, once I found a company willing to insure an electric bus purchased from Alibaba that cruises the roads at the sitting duck speed of 15 mph. Piece of cake!
Author: Micah Toll
Source: Electrek
