This bizarre capsule is a bicycle - and it could be fastest in history, reaching 90mph by pedal-power alone

It’s 40 times more aerodynamic than a Bugatti Veyron, has a top speed of 90mph (145kph), and generates enough power to light the average home, the Daily Mail reports.

And while it might not look anything like it, this strange design is in fact a pedal-powered bike enclosed in an aerodynamic carbon fibre shell.

Dubbed the Arion1 Velocipede, the bike is being designed by a team of UK engineering students who believe it will become the fastest human-powered vehicle in history.

The University of Liverpool Velocipede Team (ULVT) are hoping their design will break the 83.13 mph (133.7kph) record set in September 2013 by TU Delft and VU Amsterdam universities.

Arion1 will be designed, manufactured and ready to race by May 2015, and will attempt the record in September 2015 at the World Human Power Speed Challenge in Battle Mountain, Nevada.

‘This is no ordinary bicycle you would see cycling up and down the high street,’ team Leader Ben Hogan, 22, told MailOnline.

‘The rider is positioned almost lying down, as close to the ground as possible. This style of cycling is known as “recumbent” cycling.

'The whole bicycle is enclosed in a lightweight carbon fibre shell, giving the vehicle a streamlined shape which allows it to cut through the air more easily.'

The unusual shape of the Arion1’s exterior shell improves the aerodynamic behaviour of the vehicle as air resistance is the biggest challenge to maintaining speed.

The design uses the same concept as aircraft wings adopting an inverted ‘teardrop’ shape to cut through the air as easily as possible.

‘The frontal area of the vehicle is as as small as possible, seating the rider in a l position as low to the ground as possible ensures that air resistance is further minimised,’ said Mr Hogan.

The rider will be just five inches (13 cm) from the floor and will need to generate over 700 watts of pure human power to get to top speed.

Arion1 emits zero carbon emissions, weighs less than 55lbs (25kg), is 98.4 per cent efficient and will travel at almost double the current sprint cycling record.