It’s a car. It’s a motorcycle. Actually, it’s a little of both.
Inventor Dennis Miller calls the vehicle an “electrocycle.” And though its car-like body perched on three wheels has created a minor identity crisis, Miller contends that this Frankenstein’s monster of the auto realm can comfortably run about 30 miles per hour — 50 if he pushes it.
Miller, now retired, has funded the project mostly using his monthly social-security checks, which are roughly $1,000 each.
“I am hoping someone is going to fund me, but if that doesn’t happen, I’m still just going to build because that’s how I feel about it,” Miller said.
The only donation Miller has received is scrap metal from Dovetail Solar & Wind, where he rents garage space in Tuppers Plains, Ohio, a town southeast of Athens.
Ted Bernard, an Ohio University environmental studies professor, said that, although he hasn’t seen Miller’s creation specifically, he has seen one or two other vehicles in Southeast Ohio similar to Miller’s electrocycle.
“(The idea) is not unique, of course. There are experiments going on but with all kinds of configurations to try to move our vehicles off total dependence on gasoline,” Bernard said.
Miller began building his electrocycle in July 2010 and has since invested about $3,500 in the project. After the first four-wheel motors failed to provide enough torque, Miller is looking to rectify the situation with a fifth wheel motor.
The electrocycle boasts six 20-volt solar panels on the roof and hood, which could supply about 30 seconds to one minute of driving time per 30 minutes in direct sunlight, Miller said.
“When I first put the (solar panels) on there, they were only symbolic,” Miller said, explaining that the additional 120 watts from the solar panels were designed only to maintain an existing charge.
But Miller’s electrocycle compensates for its lack of orthodoxy with eco-friendly structure.
The finalized electrocycle’s body will be composed of biofoam, a locally produced material. Miller said the biofoam body plays two key roles: It is a recyclable bioplastic, and it supports the local farmers who work to produce the foam.
Miller said he recently obtained a title for the electrocycle at the Jackson County Bureau of Motor Vehicles after it passed a self-assembled motor-vehicle inspection.
Anne Ralston, public affairs commander for the Ohio State Highway Patrol and lieutenant at the general headquarters in Columbus, said the inspection for self-assembled vehicles includes checking for all essential car parts as well as documenting those parts to ensure none were stolen.
Ralston added that, though the inspections are not meant to ensure a vehicle’s safety, there is a “catch-all” category included in the inspection that outlines what constitutes an “unsafe” vehicle.
The electrocycle is slated to be finished within a matter of months. The goal, Miller said, is to create a niche market for the electrocycle in Tuppers Plains.
“This is meant to happen,” he said. “All I’m doing when I’m working on this (electrocycle) is facilitating it to happen.”
sg409809@ohiou.edu
