MIT Offers City Car for the Masses

MIT's stackable electric car, a project to improve urban transportation will make its debut this week in Milan. "The City Car, a design project under way at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is envisioned as a two-seater electric vehicle powered by lithium-ion batteries. It would weigh between 1,000 and 1,200 pounds and could collapse, then stack like a shopping cart with six to eight fitting into a typical parking space. It isn't just a car, but is designed as a system of shared cars with kiosks at locations around a city or small community."

painless transition

[xPsi]

then stack like a shopping cart with six to eight fitting into a typical parking space

Since that's how they park in Milan anyway, the transition should be pretty painless.

Because what I want is...

[rlwhite]

...a car that collapses like a shopping cart when I'm rear-ended.

That's easy!

[jpfed]

Initialize a new stack. Pop cars from the first stack and push them onto the second stack until you find the car you want. Then, pop cars from the second stack and push them onto the first stack. This has the advantage of maintaining the original order of the stack.

here in america

[circletimessquare]

we require 10' foot high SUVs modeled on military vehicles that can run over a compact car and not even feel it. the inside must be 500 square feet, of which there will be only one occupant. oh, and the vehicle must get 2 miles to the gallon

i don't understand what the point of this green environmental stuff is, just send more soldiers to iraq. problem solved

Python..

[eniac42]

Look, I came here for an argument! Oh, sorry, wrong story..

Is it just me or...

[Komi]

Does this guy [news.com] look like he's peeing on the car?

Re:And then Boston tipped over and slid into the s

[jombeewoof]

Don't worry, you'll still have yours parked in front of your mom's basement.

Re:Python..

[Stormwatch]

Look, I came here for an argument! Oh, sorry, wrong story..

No, it isn't!

Re:Because what I want is...

[camperdave]

...a car that collapses like a shopping cart when I'm rear-ended.

... or a car with one wheel that skitters and wobbles on its own accord.

Re:Shared Cars = Yellow Bike = Failure

[UbuntuDupe]

Well, just because it doesn't work in America, doesn't mean it's failure in other countries. I remember when I was in Sweden, they had a truly amazing bike share program. Basically, at a bunch of depots throughout a city, there will be a bunch of bikes you can grab to get where you're going. And it's not a bunch of crappy bikes either, they're very stylish, customized, have intricate patterns, mods, you name it. The way it works is you just go up to one you like, break it's connector (you can use a rock or whatever) and ride wherever you need to go, and just drop it at the nearest depot when you're done.

The locals are also very concerned for your safety. Whenever I rode off in one, people would run after me, yelling frantically about something. I ignored them of course, because my Swedish is pretty weak.

So really, it just depends on the culture.

Re:Overkill solution

[Colin Smith]

DB in Berlin has bikes all over the place. That works well too. You see one, phone them, they give you a code to unlock it and you ride where you want to go.

http://www.callabike-interaktiv.de/kundenbuchung/ [callabike-interaktiv.de]

We have a similar system in Glasgow in Scotland which I have just experienced whereby you lock up your bike to something solid and some little fucker comes along and chisels your lock off and takes your bike.
 

Sorry MIT. Already done.

[moosesocks]

Although I do commend MIT on their efforts, I can't help but think that this is another vastly impractical academic pipedream (a la those who predicted the Segway would change the world. It's a masterpiece of engineering, but let's be realistic here...).

On the other hand, tiny cars are nothing new. They don't even need to be electric... if you're getting 100MPG with a petrol engine (and in a city car at that), the expense of making the vehicle fully electric seems rather silly. You'd probably also do more damage to the environment by manufacturing the batteries as well...

Like the Segway, the MIT concept looks expensive. Impractically so. You're not going to see these things adopted at all unless they're considerably cheaper than a motorbike. In fact, if you lowered the price down to about what a plain old bicycle costs, you'd be even better.

Such a vehicle actually exists. The Peel P50 [wikipedia.org] made in 1962 sold for about £200, gets 100mpg, and was (and still is) street legal in the UK.

The guys from Top Gear did a hilarious review [youtube.com] of the car last week, and proved that you could indeed drive it TO work (in the elevator, down the corridor, and to your desk). It's even got a handle on the back to pick it up with.

Yeah, it's hideously impractical, but then again, so is MIT's proposal.

Still, it's nice to dream.

Re:It wount be accepted.

[Anonymous Coward]

So does the village prostitute...
and the village idiot for that matter.

Re:Moore's Law, anyone?

[Beyond_GoodandEvil]

When I was a lad I delivered 150 newspapers on a bicycle with baskets
I remember that game and at the end of your route you used to have this cool obstacle course.