Gadget Master

Fancy climbing on board this unique machine - and travelling at almost 20mph - powered by electric screwdrivers?! That is, two Bosch 18-volt-screwdrivers, to be precise.

The vehicle is called the "EX" and is described by creator Nils Ferber thus:

Excentricity is defined as a deviation from what is ordinary or customary. To match this definition we couldn't just modify an existing vehicle but had to start designing something new from scratch. The result is a completely new driving concept: The driver lies headlong on his three-wheeled vehicle and accelerates the "EX" with sprawled out arms up to 30 km/h.

Eccentrically is also how the steering works: A specially developed joint tilts the back wheel and leans the driver´s weight dynamically into the curve.

The vehicle was built and designed in cooperation with Sebastian Auray, Ruben Faber and Ludolf von Oldershausen.

The clever part is the gearing of the two drills (which it must be noted are placed worryingly close to the most sensitive part of the driver....)

Both screwdrivers run in the same direction to get the maximum power out of them. To avoid one screwdriver blocking the other, overrunning clutch gearwheels are used to transmit the torque.

There are loads of photos you can see in the section of Nils' site that details the build process.

Very striking, and indeed eccentric. It puts me in mind of the Power Tool Drag Racing Championship, held in Yeovil last year - a race between machines powered by nothing more than household power tools...