Mygreenwheels

Maybe it's not top of the auto-fantasy list for most of us, but those brain-boxes at MIT have visions for the future where we can fold up our car at the end of our commute journey and stack it like a grocery trolley for the next user.

With backing from GM (surprise, surprise) they're building a prototype of a lightweight EV for cheap mass production. The idea is that it can be rented by commuters under a shared-use business model, then folded and stacked at a railway station or other central point for the next user.

The biggest excitement about this prototype, however, seems to focus on its wheels. There's no 'hood' on this car, as each wheel has a motor in it with all the fancy gizmos MIT can pack into it. But if you read my piece on in-wheel motors you'll already know all about that ;-)

Now here's the bit that will appeal to the ladies.

In this car will be software that sets passenger preferences, changes the colour of the cabin, controls the dashboard look and feel and even directs drivers to parking spaces. "We think of the car as a big mobile computer with wheels on it," said MIT man. "This car should have a lot of computational power. It should know where the potholes are." Cool. My hometown of Edinburgh could REALLY do with that.

Love this bit - it will have a zero-turn radius. In other words, it turns on the spot. Now, how handy is that, girls???

Like a computer, the car will also start with the push of a button (but let's hope it boots up a bit faster than most PCs). Instead of a steering wheel, it has handlebars, similar to a scooter or motorbike and the body will be made of lightweight composite material such as Kevlar or carbon fiber.

I'd really like to see this one become real, but we're going to have to wait until 2008 even for the prototype. I think it's a great idea and look forward to its debut at one of next year's big shows where I'm sure it'll be a show-stopper.

See the full story here.