If this looks to you like something in between a Power Wheels toy and an actual car, you’re right. It’s called the Firefly, and it’s designed to teach kids how to drive.
The project is an initiative of Young Driver, a UK organization that already offers driving lessons to children between the ages of 10 and 17 behind the wheel of a specially equipped Skoda Citigo on closed tracks. The school claims that its graduates are half as likely to have an accident in their first six months of driving than those who haven’t taken their course, which is pretty impressive.
The idea with the Firefly is to bring that point of entry down as low as five years old using this specially designed vehicle. The pint-size car features an independent suspension, rack-and-pinion steering, hydraulic disc brakes, reverse gear, LED headlights and taillights, turning indicators, adjustable driver’s seat… the works. Even a tablet-like dashboard with speedometer, clock and power reserve meter.
Motivation comes from a pair of electric motors paired to two 12-Volt batteries that can provide up to 9 hours of continuous operation. It’s designed to handle like a full size car, and features two driving modes: Junior limits top speed to 5 miles per hour and uses sensors to stop the vehicle if it detects an obstacle. The Experienced mode raises the limit to 10 mph and deactivates the sensors. But in either mode, the parent or instructor can stop the car remotely from nearly 400 feet away. There’s even a passenger seat to bring someone along, and anyone up to six feet tall can fit in either seat.
The Firefly project was originally undertaken for the Young Driver program to use in-house, with 20-minute lessons costing £19.95 (or about $27). But the company also aims to begin selling the vehicles to the public starting next year for about £5,750 plus tax (~$7,700).
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