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Leith Cars Blog

This Inventor Might Have Solved Cupholder Spills

One of the chief problems that has plagued automakers for years is cupholders. Too big, too small, soft drink sized, coffee mug sized, space for a handle, no handle, removable, coverable, etc.

How does one get the dried stickiness of a spilled drink out of there? Should the holder have straight walls, or should they be angled slightly, so as to gradually adjust to any size? Or maybe they should be the ones with the foldable arms that adjust to two arbitrary sizes. Some are in the doors, some are in the center console, and in some cars (thanks, Germany) for the longest time there were none.

One company has a solution for at least one problem: spilling. The Maksimatic cupholder, named after its creator, Maksim Ghyvoronsky, tries the old gyroscopic approach. That is, the holder automatically tilts to counterbalance the vehicle’s movements. The idea is that you can “commute like a lunatic” and not spill a single drop.

[Tweet “This inventor might have solved cupholder spills.”]

A lofty statement, to be sure. The demo video, however, offers compelling evidence. First of all, the test vehicle is an Audi TT, a sports car that lets drivers feel plenty of road bumps, shakes and jostling in exchange for the grip and handling that a sports car needs to deliver. Testing a spillable drink in this vehicle (with a manual transmission, no less) is far more ambitious than most vehicles’ shock-dulling suspensions.

Second of all, the range of maneuvers performed for the test’s sake are genuinely impressive.

Going up hills with a gradient in excess of 30 percent is far more than we’ll ever need. Parking at an angle, reversing out of that spot, and rejoining traffic adds to the wow factor.

[Tweet “Hot coffee. No lid. Ferrari. This cupholder solves it.”]

Finally, all this driving is performed with a drink that goes without a lid, a detail ensured not because the creators lacked a lid, but instead made to show the total absence of spills. Consider your drink’s lid a failsafe level of protection.

What do you think? Have you tried something like this before? Do your drinks ever spill? Would you have additional peace of mind knowing that your drink is protected?