Now Minneapolis-based inventor Rich Kronfield has created an electric-assist “Raht Racer” velomobile that he claims can travel at up to 100mph （160km/h）.

“The Raht Racer is a power biking vehicle that uses state of the art pedal-electric hybrid technology to amplify pedal power， enabling the rider’s legs to propel the vehicle up to highway speeds， giving the rider the feeling of super strength，” Mr Kronfield says. “On a bicycle， your pedals are the accelerator. Same with the Raht Racer， only multiplied a hundred times.”

The Raht Racer’s pedals are connected to a unique fly-wheel generator rather than of directly driving the wheels， as in a traditional velomobile.

The pedals power a 20-kwh electric motor， which sits in the rear wheel hub.

The vehicle senses the torque being applied to the pedals， and then amplifies it so that most people can maintain a cruising speed of around 30 mph （48 km/h）.

The body of the two-seater Raht Racer is made from carbon fiber and includes a roll cage， headlights， seat lights， air bags and a trunk.

During pedalling， a 2-kwh li-ion battery pack also gets charged to help extend the 570lb （259kg） velomobiles range.

Mr Kronfield has created a prototype and is currently running a Kickstarter campaign to create a commercial mode.

It is estimated that the price of the Raht Racer will start at $35，000 （217，300） if the campaign is successful.

居住在美國明尼阿波里斯市的發(fā)明家里奇·科倫菲爾德研制了電動“拉特賽車”人力躺車，聲稱其速度每小時(shí)能高達(dá)100英里（即每小時(shí)160千米）。

“拉特賽車是一種動力自行車，使用腳踏電動混合技術(shù)來增強(qiáng)腳踏的動力，騎行者的腿能夠驅(qū)動自行車使其達(dá)到在高速公路上行駛的速度，讓騎車人感受到超強(qiáng)力量，”科倫菲爾德如是說，“騎自行車時(shí)，踏板是加速器，拉特賽車也一樣，只不過拉特賽車的動力是其他自行車的百倍?！?/p>

拉特賽車的腳踏板與一個(gè)獨(dú)特的飛輪發(fā)電機(jī)連接，而不是像傳統(tǒng)自行車一樣直接驅(qū)動車輪。

拉特賽車的腳踏板為處于后輪轂的一個(gè)20千瓦的電動機(jī)提供動力。

這種裝置能檢測到腳踏板上的扭矩，大幅提高了它的作用，使得大多數(shù)人都能維持每小時(shí)30英里（即每小時(shí)48千米）左右的行駛速度。

兩人座的拉特賽車主體由碳素纖維制成，設(shè)有一個(gè)籠形護(hù)框、車頭燈、座位燈、氣囊和一個(gè)后備廂。

踩踏的同時(shí)還能為一個(gè)2千瓦時(shí)的鋰離子電池組充電，延長重達(dá)570磅（即259千克）的躺車在道路上行駛的時(shí)間。

科倫菲爾德已創(chuàng)造出了一個(gè)模型，目前正在美國Kickstarter眾籌網(wǎng)上開展籌款活動以便進(jìn)行生產(chǎn)。

如果這個(gè)項(xiàng)目成功的話，拉特賽車的售價(jià)預(yù)計(jì)將超過3.5萬美金（約合21.73萬人民幣）一臺。