Road to the future

If you could design a car to fit perfectly into a city, what would it look like? That was the question researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab asked back in 2003. Over the following years a team of designers, urban planners and even architects began to tackle it. They set themselves two targets: to create a car that could fit into tight parking spaces, and to make it easier than ever to manoeuvre. The result of their deliberations is the CityCar – an all-electric, two-seater that can fold in the middle when it’s being parked, making it just 1.5m long. It is so short when it’s folded that up to three of them can fit end-to-end into one parking space. “This is not a traditional vehicle,” says MIT designer Praveen Subramani. “From the start we wanted to achieve something different, so we began rethinking the basic architecture of a car.”

The MIT team dispensed with the traditional engine, transmission and gearbox, instead developing ‘robot wheels’ that each have their own electric drive motor and steering motor, as well as suspension and braking. The wheels rotate up to 120° so the car can slip into parking spaces sideways and spin on its own axis. The repositioning of the inner workings leaves space for the folding mechanism. The CityCar is effectively split into two sections: the front passenger compartment and a rear module housing the batteries. By sliding the front half up against the rear section using two small actuators in the linkage between each end, the wheelbase contracts.

This can be done with the occupants on board, although it might feel like being tipped off an armchair. Driving the CityCar will take some getting used to. “We decided upon a drive-by-wire system, so there was no need for a steering wheel,” says Praveen. In other words, there is no mechanical linkage between the steering and throttle controls, with commands being sent to the robot wheels electronically. The traditional steering wheel is replaced by something resembling an aircraft control yoke. The lack of a steering column means the driver and passenger can get in and out through the windscreen that swings upwards.

In 2010, Basque company Denokinn began working with MIT and helped turn a halfscale model into a full-size car, the ‘Hiriko’, the Basque word for urban. Next year, Hirikos will hit the streets of Vitoria-Gasteiz near Bilbao for a trial scheme. “The current plan is to start small-scale production in the next year and a half,” says Praveen. Fleets of Hirikos will be deployed in cities and available to hire, much like the ‘Boris Bikes’ in London. Alternatively, they would cost €12,500 (£10,000) to buy and the batteries would be leased.