Automotive DesignLine Blog
MIT unfolds the 'CityCar'
George Leopold
3/10/2010 7:29 PM EST
In some cities, you can rent a bike at one location and drop it off in another. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are taking that idea a step further, while extending the Zip Car rental concept, with a project called "CityCar".
MIT's Ryan Chin bills the CityCar as a "fully electric, foldable and stackable vehicle" with four direct-drive wheels that can be turned 120 degrees.
The foldable design reminds me a bit of the lunar rover designed by General Motors in the late 1960s to ferry Apollo astronauts around the surface of the moon.
The video below explains the design and concept behind the "community-owned" CityCar.
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easycamaro
3/16/2010 5:42 AM EDT
Yes. As Ryan Chin said, this kind of conceptual small car may be more applicable in Shanghai or Tokyo. It means very less for ordinary house hold use in US.
--- Peng Zeng (Researcher@Illinoie Institute of Technology)
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prabhakar_deosthali
8/4/2010 2:55 AM EDT
This is a very good and not so futuristic concept in the personal transportation. As a part of EV design team , we had tried a similar compact 2 seater EV in our lab and it gave quite interesting results. The fold-able and stack-able concept is something really innovative and makes such vehicle very attractive as Public Transportation in the downtown areas of metropolis. The stack-able concept is mainly useful in vehicles for hire where the car on the top of the stack can be hired. Such technology needs to be commercialized very fast
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