Meet 'The Shane': A Massive Self-Balancing Hoverboard Designed for Five Riders

The Shane, a new electric vehicle design with what appear to be 60-inch-ish rims, is going to appeal to everyone who enjoys huge wheels. It seems that the fact that there are only two wheels rather than more is the most unusual aspect.

Designed by its namesake, Shane Chen, this two-wheeled, five-seater electric vehicle (EV) resembles a giant hoverboard. That shouldn't come as a huge surprise given that Chen created the hoverboard many years ago. By using ingenious sensors and motors built into the framework, that device is able to balance the rider's fore and aft.

The Shane seeks to accomplish the same thing, but with five people packing and moving quickly this time and it has to make use of several intriguing technologies in order to do that safely.

Riders of hoverboards will be aware that tipping forward or backward is necessary when accelerating or decelerating on the watercraft. Naturally, a vehicle designed for multiple people cannot accommodate that kind of weight shifting for control. Rather, to lessen the impact of speed variations, the entire passenger body of the plane travels forward or backward.

In fact, the wheels enable the body to move nearly independently of the wheels, allowing it to absorb large bumps with minimal effect on the cabin. If this two-wheeled design is successful in the market, there are a number of significant advantages, even though it seems like a somewhat complex system.

To start with, the Shane design has no steering linkage at all. Just by increasing or decreasing the power and speed of one wheel, it can shift its direction. Furthermore, the design of the Shane enables it to pivot in position, making parallel parking quite simple and easy.
Yet Chen cannot accomplish the task of bringing the rendering to life on his own. To make this idea a reality, he says, "I look forward to working with partners." Additionally, he offers no information about the vehicle's power or range, how passengers would get in or out of it, or who will build the six-foot wheels.

It is interesting to note that there are other two-wheeled car concepts. Another vehicle, the Gyro-X, debuted back in 1967. It has one wheel up front and one at the back, using the opposite arrangement.

It balances the vehicle while it is operating, just as its name suggests, by using a gyro. It remains operational to this day, sitting in Nashville, Tennessee's Lane Motor Museum. Two little wheels on the side of the Gyro-X allow it to stand when it is turned off. Maybe Shane won't require anything similar to this.