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."

Comments

Moore's Law, anyone?

[ackthpt]

"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."

So every 18 months they'll come out with a newer model, which folds into half the space and cost less. At the end of 12 years it will be a skateboard. Got news for them, Santa Cruz is already there.

Re:Moore's Law, anyone?

[MrNonchalant]

One idea might be that in fact this isn't a replacement for biking, skateboarding, taking public transit, or whatever else have you. But instead that it could supplement someone whose primary means of transport is one of those. I'd sort of feel like I'd have to have a car for select situations, and once I'd have a car I'd feel like I'd need to justify the expense by using it. This and current car sharing schemes neatly sidestep that. You have a car when you need one, not when you don't. This is more efficient all around. It can save you money, it can reduce environmental impact, and it can reduce congestion.

Re:Moore's Law, anyone?

[Maxmin]

Heheh. Let's see you pedal 50 lbs of groceries ten miles, drop Grandma off at the doctor, and run by the bank to deposit a check to cover the mortgage, all in an hour. Then we'll talk about skateboards replacing motorized transport.

RTFH? read the post!

[spatley]

from the top of this page:
"but is designed as a system of shared cars with kiosks..."
nobody owns individual cars, you subscribe to the service and grab a car from a kiosk wherever you need one.

And then Boston tipped over and slid into the sea

[ackthpt]

from the top of this page: "but is designed as a system of shared cars with kiosks..." nobody owns individual cars, you subscribe to the service and grab a car from a kiosk wherever you need one.

What happens when the all end up at the same place in town on a Friday night

Tragedy of the Commons?

[ODiV]

How long until there's grafiti everywhere, the seats are slashed, and the cars are rendered unusable by the public?

Not that this isn't a great idea. It's just depressing that people will purposefuly ruin things like this.

(Okay, so not exactly "Tragedy of the Commons")

Re:Tragedy of the Commons?

[ackthpt]

Depends on where you live. Here in Melbourne, Australia the ticket machines on train stations have about fourteen different anti-vandalisation features. At Incheon, South Korea where I was working last week the ticket machines are little computers with no attempt at protection. They are cleaner, too.

This is something one notices when one travels. Different care accorded the 'commons'. Some people take a certain civic pride that their city is clean and free of vandalism. Others believe it is someone else's problem to look after everything.

Shared Cars = Yellow Bike = Failure

[Nova Express]

So, the cars would be used as "a system of shared cars with kiosks at locations around a city" and the TFA says the program would be like a "bike-share program". In other words, it sounds like a lot like the "Yellow Bike" program. Anyone remember that? Place a bunch of bikes out where anyone could take them, believing they would return them when done. Yeah, that worked out exactly as well as you would expect: a colossal failure where the bikes were quickly stolen and sold for drug money. Guess what? Communism doesn't work. See also: The Tragedy of the Commons.

People like owning private property. In fact, they like it so much that given a chance to "borrow" a vehicle, they'll never return it. But if someone follows through on this idea, thefts will probably go down for a week or so when the same people who stole yellow bikes to support their drug habit do the same with the cars, at a much higher profit.

Re:Shared Cars = Yellow Bike = Failure

[fiannaFailMan]

Guess what? Communism doesn't work. See also: The Tragedy of the Commons.

Public libraries are the same. Let people borrow books? Yeah right, they're just going to steal them and not return them. These library things are never going to catch on. People would rather own books so that they can have them sitting on the shelf even after they're finished reading them.

And what's this I hear about a company called Zipcar offering hourly car rentals in cities all over the US? Ha! It'll never catch on. I'll bet those commies will find their shared cars being full of graffiti and ripped seats and radios ripped out for drug money.

Re:Shared Cars = Yellow Bike = Failure

[DerekLyons]

Guess what? Communism doesn't work. See also: The Tragedy of the Commons.

Public libraries are the same. Let people borrow books? Yeah right, they're just going to steal them and not return them. These library things are never going to catch on. People would rather own books so that they can have them sitting on the shelf even after they're finished reading them.

A fact about libraries that you are either a) unacquainted with from not having visited and actual library, or b) deliberately ignore because it spoils your snarky little reply. Unlike the bicycles - books are not simply left about for anyone to take from a library. You have a library card, and the library knows full well who took them - and when. (And despite that, theft and vandalism are ongoing problems for libraries.)
 
 

And what's this I hear about a company called Zipcar offering hourly car rentals in cities all over the US? Ha! It'll never catch on. I'll bet those commies will find their shared cars being full of graffiti and ripped seats and radios ripped out for drug money.

As above, do I really need to explain to you the difference between bicycles left lying about for free usage - and a car that you rent with the owner of the car having full knowledge of who has it and when? (As well as having your credit card number and a record of insurance.)

I get the idea but there is a better solution

[Bryansix]

The problem with this is when you have to return the same car. The car is now in a stack. If you could grab any car at any time then it would work.

Anyways, there is a much more elegant soltution to the "Last Mile Problem" in the form of Personal Rapid Transit. These scholars should devote their energy to the study and advancement of this system.

So what happens when...

[CrAlt]

So what happens when you hit someone in one of these things? Or run in to another car?

Who's insurance gets to pay for damages?

incidental items are a deal-breaker

[fred fleenblat]

One thing this category of solution doesn't address is that people use their cars for transportation and temporary storage of...stuff. Boring stuff like an extra coat and an umbrella, work-related files or equipment, books, food/drink, maps, groceries, not to mention children.

Rented vehicles of any kind, or small vehicles meant to only carry people and not much else reduce the abilty to carry stuff around. Riding a bike while carrying a briefcase can be a challenge, let alone hauling a network switch or linux server from train to bus, bus to rented folding car, rented folding car to bike, bike to building. The plain fact about public or shared transit is that storage or transfer of even the most trivial item throughout the day becomes a nightmare.

It's easy to treat this as an irrelevant issue but it's a vital part of everyday life and urban planners need to stop ignoring it if they want to find solutions that people can actually live with.

Re:incidental items are a deal-breaker

[rabiddeity]

For small personal items? Get a backpack. When I ride a motorcycle, I accept the fact that I have to ride light. I can't carry lots of stuff around with me, but at the very least I can still strap on a backpack with a map, tire gauge, pen, notepad, collapsing umbrella (about 30cm long), a book or two, and rain gear. And I still have room for a few small things, and a net I can use to tie things onto the back. I could probably fit a briefcase in there if I got creative. I have a grocery store within walking distance, and for larger things I have them shipped (one of the nicer things about Japan). I hear you can even have groceries shipped to your door these days. Granted, what works for me won't work for everyone, but if you live in a large city you can bring a folding bicycle and a backpack on the bus or train and do a lot more than you think. The bike lets you travel that "last mile" quickly, and the backpack lets you carry a few things with you.

If you're hauling around network switches, servers, or other bulky heavy stuff for work, your business needs to provide an appropriate vehicle. And if you're hauling that crap to and from home, you need to stop working at two places. Pick an office, or a home, and work there.

I guess the point is that most people who claim they need a Land Crusher SUV to carry their stuff around are mistaken. They simply need to avoid lugging all their crap everywhere.

Shared cars?

[reboot246]

Can you imagine the smell? It would have to be worse than any plane or bus smell.

Re:Up Close

[daveo0331]

1. You have access to a car anytime you want/need it, without the hassle and expense of owning a car. Could save a lot of money if you live close enough to work to walk or bike and only occasionally need a car.

2. Unlike trains, the "stations" could be at every corner, since all that would be needed is a few square feet and a card reader. Also, unlike trains, a station at every corner doesn't mean you have to stop at every corner all the way to your destination.

3. No unexpected huge repair bills -- maintenance and repairs are just part of the fee.

4. More space in your garage, since you don't have to own a car.

5. Parking is easy to find -- just go to a kiosk.

6. You don't have to pay for parking. Imagine driving one of these to the airport.

7. Drive into town, go out drinking, cab it back home without having to go back to retrieve your car the next day.

8. Any given car is in use a higher percentage of the time, so if everyone (or a large fraction of everyone) did this, we wouldn't have to devote nearly as much land to parking lots.

9. Need exercise? Walk to the grocery store, buy a cart full of groceries, drive back home. This also reduces gas usage/environmental impact by 50% compared to driving both ways.

10. Drive to work on a rainy morning. When the weather clears in the afternoon, walk back home.

11. If you get a flat tire, just call maintenance, then grab another car and keep going.

Re:You need solutions that work for all ages

[Loke the Dog]

It can be more than a mile, pepople can be old, people can be cripple.

But most of us are fit enough to walk up to a mile or so (and longer for that matter) and the world would be a better place if those who can do that also did. There are already electric wheelchairs and similar things for people who can't walk, so if that's what they're trying to solve, they're a bit late.

Painful result.

[JonathanR]

The transition of parking methods might be painless, but what this technology will do is increase the number of cars on the road. As the cars have to be 'unstacked' to be driven, they will take up the same amount of room (width x following distance) on the road as an ordinary Fiat Punto or similar. So, dumping more cars in the centre of Milan will not be painless in the long term.

Re:other ideas

[Firethorn]

The easiest method I can think of would be to require an initial sign up - that would give CC companies time to make sure the subscription is good and the person legit. Maybe snail mail him an activation code to his registered address.

Then simply reverify the card/driver's license on rental.

You don't have to prevent all theft - just enough that you can still make a profit. Given that you'd probably put a number of anti-theft and tracking measures in, and the items wouldn't exactly be 'open market' items, so you'd have to part it out - but most users of those systems would also be corporate types with the vehicles on contract - so the aftermarket value is limited.

And a few cameras. Take a picture when the person presents his ID, take pictures of the vehicle leaving(beginning condition), and pictures of the vehicle returning(ending condition). Something comes up, review the pictures.