Skip to main content

High speed mobility

A group of automotive enthusiasts in the UK hope to set a new world land speed record, with a mobility scooter. Powered by a 600cc motorcycle engine the mobility scooter is now thought to be able to reach some 192km/h, around 15 times as fast as a conventional mobility scooter. Official timed runs have yet to be made for the record to be set. The rules call for two timed speed runs to be made within one hour with the record being an average of the two. However the group believe their mobility scooter will e
September 26, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
A group of automotive enthusiasts in the UK hope to set a new world land speed record, with a mobility scooter. Powered by a 600cc motorcycle engine the mobility scooter is now thought to be able to reach some 192km/h, around 15 times as fast as a conventional mobility scooter. Official timed runs have yet to be made for the record to be set. The rules call for two timed speed runs to be made within one hour with the record being an average of the two. However the group believe their mobility scooter will easily be able to top the current mobility scooter speed record of 115km/h.

Meanwhile another man in the UK has fitted the starter motor from a Chinook helicopter to a shopping trolley. The starter motor has been modified to produce thrust and is estimated to deliver around 112kW. The first speed test at the Santa Pod drag strip has shown this unusual vehicle to be capable of reaching 70km/h, which makes it the world’s fastest shopping trolley. Its builder, a go-kart racer, believes it is powerful enough to reach 160km/h although he is unsure about its stability at this speed. Given the heat and noise the trolley generates, it is not likely to be welcome inside a supermarket however.

Related Content

  • Developments in hybrid vehicles
    February 27, 2012
    There is an array of future vehicle solutions in development - Mike Woof reports. Ever since Henry Ford's Model T showed that the motor car could provide transport for ordinary people rather than being an exclusive toy of the rich, vehicle numbers have exploded. In every country around the world, vehicle ownership continues to grow.
  • High performance, high mobility of wheeled pavers
    February 14, 2012
    New generation wheeled pavers aimed at use in territories such as the UK, Italy, South Africa and Southern Germany are now coming to market. Pavers in these countries are often expected to be driven from one part of a site to another or for short distances, which is why the additional mobility of the wheeled machine is preferred in many instances over similarly-sized tracked models. This preference for wheeled units comes in spite of the greater stability offered by tracked machines. BOMAG, Caterpillar and
  • Storage Facility
    May 22, 2018
    Many UK drivers use their vehicles to store highly unlikely items according to a study. Amongst the more peculiar items kept in cars by their owners are mannequins, a bale of hay, 52 pies, a Ouija board, a false leg, 160 hats, 24 rolling pins, a wicker reindeer, two single mattresses, a hamster cage, parts of a railway engine and a urine container. The study also found that 25% of drivers are ashamed of how dirty their vehicles are with a further 5% admitting to never cleaning their vehicles. The study was
  • Young Driver Risk
    April 16, 2018
    Police in the US state of Ohio recently found themselves in a high-speed pursuit involving a vehicle taken without its owner’s consent. The chase lasted for around one hour and the vehicle hit speeds of up to 160km/h during the pursuit, which covered a distance of around 72km in all between Cleveland and Milan. Officers managed to box the car in and bring it to a halt, without anyone being injured. The driver was a 10-year-old boy who took his mother’s car, the second time that the lad had done this in just