Volvo has set out to prove how easy its new FMX lorry is to drive by letting a hamster take to the wheel.
The company's new Dynamic Steering system uses an electric motor to replace the driver's muscle power, making the steering incredibly light. The steering is, in fact, so light that the steering wheel can be turned with just one finger, even at low speeds.
This is where the hamster comes in. Charlie, a specially-trained golden hamster from Oxfordshire, was placed inside a hamster wheel attached to the lorry's steering wheel in an effort to prove that the tiny forces exerted on the wheel by Charlie's little legs would be enough to turn the wheel of the Volvo.
Of course, there are two problems with giving charge of an enormous truck to a tiny animal, chief among which is how you convince the creature to do what you want. Volvo got round this by coaxing Charlie around the wheel with a carrot, making the lorry the world's first carrot-guided vehicle, probably.
The second problem is that, in the event that something went wrong, Charlie probably could not be relied upon to take evasive action, given his lack of a driving licence and, er, well, the fact that he's a hamster. To this end, precision driver Seon Rogers had his feet on the pedals, just in case Charlie decided that he didn't like carrot, sending several tonnes of Volvo down the side of a Spanish quarry.
Click on the image below to watch the video:
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