Is it a motorcycle or a bicycle? The vehicle that Konstantin Kulikov has been zooming around Rochester on may look like a strange hybrid.
But Kulikov hopes the Eco-Trike, which will be available to the public soon, becomes a common sight.
"I ride it as a commuter," Kulikov said. "Six hundred miles for $1 is really great. Plus you're saving the environment and when you ride it, you feel happiness."
Kulikov, an inventor who has spent the past three years developing the Eco-Trike with partner Sergey Cheprasov, both of Zumbro Falls, said the battery-operated vehicle can travel up to 20 miles before it needs to be recharged and can achieve a maximum speed of 20 mph. It also can be pedaled if the battery is dead and it folds to fit in the truck of most cars or for storage.
"If you use a scooter, it can't go on the road," said Kulikov, a Russian immigrant and inventor. "It makes a big difference. I can go on the road anywhere. On roads with 30 mph speed limits, my speed is relatively equal to all cars or trucks. Technically, it's a bicycle according to federal law, as it rides 20 or fewer miles an hour."
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The Eco-Trike was named Best Invention of the Americas at the 2011 Invention and New Product Exposition (INPEX) in Pittsburgh earlier this year and has won several other awards for its design, its health and fitness aspects and other assets, in regional, national and international competitions.
"It has a huge interest to people," he said. "Over one week it took 10 awards."
Kulikov said there have been many failed attempts to create a product similar to his. One difficulty is ensuring balance at high speeds, but Kulikov has accomplished that with the Eco-Trike's three wheels. They are "the best thing about it," he said. "I think 300 people ages 4 to 83 tried it and there is zero learning curve. You step on it and go."
