This dual-steering wheel electric go-kart looks like a fun little divorce on wheels
They say there’s no better test of a relationship than riding a tandem bike with your partner. But I propose that whoever penned that axiom never tried the go-kart equivalent. Who’s ready to step right up and pop a squat into this dual-steering wheel go-kart for some around-the-track fun with your better half?!
This fun little electric runabout sits a pair of riders side-by-side, each with their own steering wheel. And if there was ever a top contender for Awesomely Weird Alibaba Electric Vehicle of the Week, this is it!
Based on the slight size difference of the wheels though, I’m unfortunately forced to conclude that one of them might be just for show. But don’t worry, that won’t stop me from imagining a complicated system of drive-by-wire control that sees the two steering inputs battling each other for command of the machine. Perhaps a setup where whoever grips the wheel harder or screams louder gets temporary control. Yea, that sounds right.
Considering that each of the two rear wheels is powered by its own 750W (1 hp) electric motor, you could have some serious fun with this thing if you eventually win out the dominance display and regain power over the vehicle. Compared to those cute little 250W ride-on toys we’ve seen before, a full two-horsepower is almost a ludicrous amount of power for what looks like an overgrown child’s toy meant for driveway shenanigans.
Just make sure you get your cheap thrills in quickly. A rather small 24V and 14Ah battery means that this go-kart is here for a good time, not a long time. That 336 Wh pack is going to run dry fairly quickly, even at the fairly limited top speed of just 10 mph (16 km/h). But hey, when you’re battling for control with your better half (which in my case our graphics guy seems to think is my own alter ego), 10 mph may seem pretty zippy.
And in case things get a little out of hand, you can rest easy knowing that the go-kart comes with its own “front anti-collision beam”, which seems just to be the bumper. I’m not sure it’s anti-collision as much as collision-mitigation technology, but I guess it’s better than leaving yellow paint everywhere you go.
One of my favorite features though is the “drift button”, which I have no idea how it works but it just sounds too cool to pass up. My best guess is that they’re either referring to a hand brake lever or a temporary current over-limit button that gives you a burst of power to break the tires free. Both of those technologies seem a bit advanced for this plastic yellow affront to racing, so perhaps it’s something more benign than what I’m imagining.
The best part of this whole endeavor though, as it often is, proves to be the price. For just a measly $280, you could be piloting your own dual-steering go-kart. When you split that per person and realize it’s just $140 per head for you and your wife to get some high-banked track counseling sessions in, the deal certainly becomes hard to pass up.
But make no mistake, you should absolutely pass it up. As usual, these Alibaba finds are fun to look at but problematic to consider taking the plunge on. Do what I say and not what I do here folks, don’t try to order hilarious electric vehicles from China’s largest online shopping center. Instead, just imagine a little me and me time on the track as you drift this thing into the sunset in your dreams.
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Paris’ bike-share system, Vélib has long been considered one of the shining success stories of urban micromobility. With a massive fleet of over 20,000 pedal and electric-assist bicycles around Paris, the service has helped millions of residents and tourists get around the City of Light without needing a car or scooter. But lately, a growing problem is threatening to knock the wheels off this urban mobility marvel: theft and joyriding.
According to city officials and the service operator, more than 600 Vélib bikes are now going missing every single week. That’s over 30 bikes a day simply vanishing from the system – some stolen outright, others taken on “joy rides” and never returned.
“At the moment we’re missing 3,000 bikes,” explained Sylvain Raifaud, head of the Agemob company that currently operates the Velib system. That’s nearly 15% of over 20,000 Vélib bikes across Paris.
The sticky-fingered culprits aren’t necessarily professional thieves or organized crime rings. Instead, they’re often regular users who treat the shared bikes like disposable toys.
The city estimates that many people have figured out how to pry the bikes out of the system’s parking docks, unlocking one for a casual cruise and then ditching it somewhere far from a docking station.
Once pried free, the bikes are technically usable for the next 24 hours until their automatic locking feature kicks in. At that point, the bikes are often simply abandoned. Some end up in alleyways. Others get tossed in rivers. A few just disappear completely.
And since the bikes are intended to be parked at their many docking stations around the city, they don’t have GPS chips, further complicating recovery of “liberated” bikes.
The issue started small but has grown into more than an inconvenience – it’s beginning to undermine the entire purpose of the service. With bikes going missing at such a high rate, many Vélib docking stations are left empty, especially during rush hours.
Riders looking for a quick commute or a convenient hop across town are increasingly finding themselves without available bikes, or having to walk long distances to find a functioning one.
That kind of unreliability chips away at user confidence and threatens to drive potential riders back into cars, cabs, or other less sustainable forms of transport at a time when Paris has already made great strides to dramatically reduce car usage in the city.
The losses are financially painful, too. Replacing stolen or vandalized bikes isn’t cheap, and the resources spent on tracking down missing equipment or reinforcing anti-theft measures are stretching thin. Vélib has faced theft and vandalism issues before, especially during its early years, but this latest surge has officials sounding the alarm with renewed urgency.
Officials acknowledge that there’s no easy fix. Paris, like many cities with bike-share systems, walks a fine line between accessibility and accountability. Part of what makes Vélib so successful is its ease of use and widespread availability. But those same features make it vulnerable to misuse – especially when enforcement is limited and the consequences for abuse are minimal.
The timing of the problem is especially unfortunate. In recent years, Paris has seen impressive results in reducing car traffic, expanding bike lanes, and promoting cycling as a key part of its sustainable transport strategy. Vélib is a cornerstone of that plan. But if the system becomes too unreliable, it risks losing the very people it was designed to serve.
Meanwhile, as Parisians increasingly find themselves staring at empty docks, the challenge for the city and Vélib will be to restore confidence in the system without making it harder to use. That means striking the right balance between freedom and responsibility, between open access and protection against abuse.
In a city where cycling is supposed to be the future of mobility, losing thousands of bikes to joyriders and sticky fingers isn’t just frustrating; it’s unsustainable.
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