Driving a motorized muffin is possible….
2 min read
Here we are:
Exist parades and events that are an incredible show sight, where giant muffins and cupcakes roll along the streets, drived by drivers whose heads poke out of the tops. This electric, eclectic vehicles have been rolling since 2004 and were built by a loose group of makers under the banner of Acme Muffineering.
Motorized muffins and cupcake cars have been popping up at events such as parades and Maker Faires since their debut at Burning Man in 2004. The original “muffineers” are Lisa Pongrace and Greg Solberg that devised these electric sweetness as a new project for that event, combining Lisa Pongrace’s art talents and Greg Solberg’s electrical engineering skills and the result was one deliciously masterpiece. In fact, she studied studio art at the University of California, Berkeley, and he is an engineer at the electric car company Tesla Motors. Their original pastry menu consisted of a blueberry bran muffin and a chocolate cupcake, and still have their original cars, since 14 years. And has since grown to include two baker’s dozen worth of blueberry, cranberry, English muffin, pink sprinkles, and many more flavors.
Most of the muffin cars function with marine batteries, and these potentially dangerous sweetness have a top speed of around 27km/h, really pretty fast for a cupcake, and they tip over easily because also the brakes aren’t the best. After the muffineers showed up at Burning Man in 2004, the Department of Motor Vehicles has drawn up new policy for these vehicles, requiring all vehicles to be pre-registered and approved before driving in these events. Because they didn’t want just everybody to buy one, the basic model of these customizable muffin cars in 2009 cost approximately $25,000 but if you would customize it, extra equipement cost from $500, over $1,500 if you really would decorate and frost your cupcake for the ride. The ingredients include steel, wood, fabric, and an electric motor, with the power depending on how long you invest in this crazy project. If you want to make a muffin, you can contact the official site, in fact the muffineers have a website and a mailing list. Lot of muffineers live in California, but it seems, not only…
