BOSTON -- How many times have you driven around and around a block looking for a parking space on a busy city street?MIT has unveiled a two-seater electric car that is not only small and compact, but when you park it, it folds.It's called the Hiriko City Car."This project started not with designing a new vehicle, but rather solving the problems of cities," said Kent Larson, director of MIT's Changing Places research group."Cities are filled with automobiles, congestion, pollution, and nowhere to park. When you park the City Car, it folds up to occupy a tiny little footprint," said Larson."The City Car takes up only approximately one-third of a normal parking space, meaning you can fit approximately three and a half City Cars in one space," he said."When it's unfolded, it's roughly the size of a Smart Car and when it's folded up, it's roughly a square package approximately 5-feet by 5-feet."What allows it to fold up is all in the wheels."Each of the wheels is in effect a robot. It has the drive motor, it has the steering motor, the suspension, the braking, all in one package," said Larson.The robot wheels spin 90 degrees to make parallel parking unnecessary."So when you go nose in to the curb, the entire panel opens up and the two passengers can step directly out to the curb. You have no side doors, so the vehicles can be very close together."Either passenger can take a turn at the steering wheel because it pivots to the left or right.The Hiriko is 100-percent electric and goes about 80 miles on one charge. But it's not meant for the highway.At a cost of about $16,000, people could buy them, but Larson said they are really meant for shared use, like Zip cars."You drive it from point A to point B, you leave it at point B, and it's available for somebody else."The first assembly plant will begin production of the Hiriko next year, producing 9000 vehicles by 2015.
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- steveiguana
on Feb. 15, 2012 at 8:52 PM