City Car (Concept)
Encyclopedia
The CityCar or MIT CityCar is an urban all-electric concept car
designed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Media Lab
. The project was conceived by the late William J. Mitchell
and his Smart Cities Research Group. It is now led by Kent Larson
, Director of the Changing Places Research Group at the Media Lab
. The project came into conception in 2003 under the support of General Motors
and a team led by ]. The CityCar weighs less than 1000 pounds (453.6 kg), is 60% the size of a Smart Car
, and its lithium-ion battery pack is expected to deliver the equivalent of 150 to 200 mpg-us (1.2 to 1.6 L/100 km; 180 to 240 mpg-imp) with no tailpipe emissions.
Time Magazine selected the CityCar as one of the "Best Inventions of 2007." Hiriko, a Spanish consortium, is building prototypes for testing in Boston, Singapore, Taiwan and Florence by mid 2011, and commercialization is scheduled for late 2012.
, and O-turns instead of the conventional three-point turns.
This wheel arrangement allows entry and exit at four points around the vehicle's perimeter. The CityCar was designed for front entry, which is feasible because there is no engine in the way. Baggage and emergency entry and exit are at the rear, and there is no side entry and exit. This configuration allows nose-in parking to the curb, and passenger embarkation from the sidewalk rather than from the road, which allows the elimination of the need for side clearance between parked vehicles. It also simplifies the vehicle, which does not need to accommodate door openings.
The CityCar was designed with a collapsible frame through a four-bar linkage that enables the vehicle to fold up for more compact parking, making possible to stack three or four CityCars in the length of a traditional parking bay, a particularly efficient feature in crowded urban settings. Safety systems operate at multiple levels. The car's folding mechanism also provides space for crash-deceleration systems. Its electronic sensing and wireless communications contribute to reduce the likelihood of crashes. And if a crash occurs, the low mass and relatively low speed reduce the energy involved in a crash with a similar vehicle. Seat belts and airbags will still be needed.
is 120 kilometres (74.6 mi). The lithium-ion battery pack is located in the floor and can be recharged in 12 minutes. The electric car will be capable of climbing grades up to 20 percent.
Smart Cities Group, is building prototypes of the CityCar for testing in Boston
, Singapore
, Taiwan
and Florence
. M.I.T. engineers and designers have accounted for every cost in building the vehicle, and say that if the car were to go into production today it could retail for around US$18,000 and the first prototypes are expected to be available by mid 2011. Mass production
is expected to begin by late 2012 with expected sales of 100,000 cars by 2014. Hiriko is planning to deploy the CityCar in ten cities a year in Europe, the United States and Asia.
Concept car
A concept vehicle or show vehicle is a car made to showcase new styling and or new technology. They are often shown at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or may not have a chance of being produced....
designed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
Media Lab
MIT Media Lab
The MIT Media Lab is a laboratory of MIT School of Architecture and Planning. Devoted to research projects at the convergence of design, multimedia and technology, the Media Lab has been widely popularized since the 1990s by business and technology publications such as Wired and Red Herring for a...
. The project was conceived by the late William J. Mitchell
William J. Mitchell
William John Mitchell was an Australian-born architect and urban designer, who played a major role in planning a major expansion project at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology....
and his Smart Cities Research Group. It is now led by Kent Larson
Kent Larson (architect)
For others with the same name see Kent Larson Kent Larson is Director of the House_n Research Consortium and the Open Source Building Alliance in the Department of Architecture at the...
, Director of the Changing Places Research Group at the Media Lab
MIT Media Lab
The MIT Media Lab is a laboratory of MIT School of Architecture and Planning. Devoted to research projects at the convergence of design, multimedia and technology, the Media Lab has been widely popularized since the 1990s by business and technology publications such as Wired and Red Herring for a...
. The project came into conception in 2003 under the support of General Motors
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
and a team led by ]. The CityCar weighs less than 1000 pounds (453.6 kg), is 60% the size of a Smart Car
Smart (automobile)
Smart is an automotive branch of Daimler AG. Smart is a German manufacturer of microcars produced in Hambach, France, and Böblingen, Germany...
, and its lithium-ion battery pack is expected to deliver the equivalent of 150 to 200 mpg-us (1.2 to 1.6 L/100 km; 180 to 240 mpg-imp) with no tailpipe emissions.
Time Magazine selected the CityCar as one of the "Best Inventions of 2007." Hiriko, a Spanish consortium, is building prototypes for testing in Boston, Singapore, Taiwan and Florence by mid 2011, and commercialization is scheduled for late 2012.
Mobility on demand
The CityCar concept was developed as the cleanest, economical and sustainable solution to meet the demand for personal urban mobility in densely populated cities, and was designed for cities as opposed to the conventional automobile, which shaped the city layout and landscape during the 20th century. The main purpose of the car is to supplement public transportation systems, providing mobility for the first and last part of a trip, which means that ideal deployment would be in urban car sharing fleets located near public transport hubs. This operational scheme is called “Mobility on Demand” system. The CityCar could also be used for short trips in government and corporate urban fleets to provide services such as mail and commercial deliveries, police patrolling, etc.Design concept
The CityCar concept was designed as an all-electric four-wheel ultra-small vehicle (USV) for two passengers, and drive-by-wire driver interface. Each wheel is independently digitally controlled, with its own wheel motor, which enables them to move in different direction and speed, and allows the wheels to rotate up to 360 degrees, giving the vehicle more precise maneuverability. This feature makes the CityCar suitable for urban conditions, as it can perform sideways motions for parallel parkingParallel parking
thumb|250px|right|Parallel-parked cars in [[Washington, D.C.]]thumb|250px|right|A motorist gets assistance parallel-parkingParallel parking is a method of parking a vehicle in line with other parked cars. Cars parked in parallel are in one line, parallel to the curb, with the front bumper of each...
, and O-turns instead of the conventional three-point turns.
This wheel arrangement allows entry and exit at four points around the vehicle's perimeter. The CityCar was designed for front entry, which is feasible because there is no engine in the way. Baggage and emergency entry and exit are at the rear, and there is no side entry and exit. This configuration allows nose-in parking to the curb, and passenger embarkation from the sidewalk rather than from the road, which allows the elimination of the need for side clearance between parked vehicles. It also simplifies the vehicle, which does not need to accommodate door openings.
The CityCar was designed with a collapsible frame through a four-bar linkage that enables the vehicle to fold up for more compact parking, making possible to stack three or four CityCars in the length of a traditional parking bay, a particularly efficient feature in crowded urban settings. Safety systems operate at multiple levels. The car's folding mechanism also provides space for crash-deceleration systems. Its electronic sensing and wireless communications contribute to reduce the likelihood of crashes. And if a crash occurs, the low mass and relatively low speed reduce the energy involved in a crash with a similar vehicle. Seat belts and airbags will still be needed.
Specifications
The CityCar will be driven with a joystick or optionally an electronic steering wheel. The prototype is 2.5 metres (8.2 ft) long and folds to 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) when parked, and weighs less than 1000 pounds (453.6 kg). The top speed is 50 kilometres per hour (31.1 mph) and to which it can accelerate from rest in 3 seconds. The all-electric rangeAll-electric range
All-electric range is the driving range of a vehicle using only power from its electric battery pack to traverse a given driving cycle. In the case of a battery electric vehicle, it means the total range per charge. For a plug-in hybrid , it means the range of the vehicle in charge-depleting mode...
is 120 kilometres (74.6 mi). The lithium-ion battery pack is located in the floor and can be recharged in 12 minutes. The electric car will be capable of climbing grades up to 20 percent.
Field testing
The Spanish consortium Hiriko, which includes MIT Media LabMIT Media Lab
The MIT Media Lab is a laboratory of MIT School of Architecture and Planning. Devoted to research projects at the convergence of design, multimedia and technology, the Media Lab has been widely popularized since the 1990s by business and technology publications such as Wired and Red Herring for a...
Smart Cities Group, is building prototypes of the CityCar for testing in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
and Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
. M.I.T. engineers and designers have accounted for every cost in building the vehicle, and say that if the car were to go into production today it could retail for around US$18,000 and the first prototypes are expected to be available by mid 2011. Mass production
Mass production
Mass production is the production of large amounts of standardized products, including and especially on assembly lines...
is expected to begin by late 2012 with expected sales of 100,000 cars by 2014. Hiriko is planning to deploy the CityCar in ten cities a year in Europe, the United States and Asia.
See also
- Alternatives to the automobileAlternatives to the automobileEstablished alternatives for some aspects of automobile use include public transit , cycling, walking, rollerblading and skateboarding. Car-share arrangements are also increasingly popular – the U.S...
- Automotive designAutomotive designAutomotive design is the profession involved in the development of the appearance, and to some extent the ergonomics, of motor vehicles or more specifically road vehicles. This most commonly refers to automobiles but also refers to motorcycles, trucks, buses, coaches, and vans...
- BMW Mega City Vehicle
- Bubble carBubble carBubble car is a subjective term used for some small, economical automobiles, usually produced in the 1950s and 1960s.- Varieties :The Messerschmitt KR175 and KR200, and the FMR Tg500, had aircraft-style bubble canopies, giving rise to the term bubble car to refer to all these post-war microcars...
- City carCity carA city car is a small car intended for use primarily in an urban area.City cars are sold worldwide and most automotive industry manufacturers have one or two in their line-up. In North-America city cars are often referred to simply as "subcompacts" alongside the superminis. These kind of cars...
- Driverless carDriverless carAn autonomous car, also known as robotic or informally as driverless, is an autonomous vehicle capable of fulfilling the human transportation capabilities of a traditional car. As an autonomous vehicle, it is capable of sensing its environment and navigating on its own...
- Electric carElectric carAn electric car is an automobile which is propelled by electric motor, using electrical energy stored in batteries or another energy storage device. Electric cars were popular in the late-19th century and early 20th century, until advances in internal combustion engine technology and mass...
- General Motors EN-VGeneral Motors EN-VGeneral Motors EN-V is a 2-seat urban electric concept car jointly developed by Segway and General Motors that can be driven normally or operated autonomously....
- Google driverless car Google driverless carThe Google Driverless Car is a project by Google that involves developing technology for driverless cars. The project is currently being led by Google engineer Sebastian Thrun, director of the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and co-inventor of Google Street View, whose team at Stanford...
- MIT CarMIT CarThe MIT Car is a concept car project conceived at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States, for the purpose of exploring the idea of urban mobility. This intensive study on advanced human traveling has been in progress since 2003...
- Nissan PivoNissan PivoThe Nissan Pivo is a concept car created by Nissan. The Pivo was first introduced at the 2005 Tokyo Motor Show. The car is essentially a 360 degree rotating three-seater cabin on a chassis of 4 wheels, and hence eliminates the need for reversing and makes parking easier.The Pivo is powered by a...
- Personal Urban Mobility and AccessibilityPersonal Urban Mobility and AccessibilityThe Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility is an experimental electrically powered road vehicle created by Segway and adopted by General Motors as a concept vehicle representing the future of urban transportation...
(P.U.M.A.) - Renault Twizy Z.E.Renault Twizy Z.E.The Renault Twizy Z.E. is an electric city car to be produced by Renault. The concept car was unveiled at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show. In May 2011 Renault announced to begin production soon and began taking reservations. Sales scheduled in Europe for late 2011 and the UK for the first quarter of...
- VisLabVisLabThe Artificial Vision and Intelligent Systems Laboratory of the University of Parma is the artificial vision research laboratory of University of Parma, Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Informazione....
, and their VIACVIACVIAC, the VisLab Intercontinental Autonomous Challenge, is the challenge conceived by VisLabas an extremetest ofautonomous vehicles.It ran from July 26, 2010 to October 28, 2010, involving four driverless vehicles driving with...
intercontinental challenge (driving from Italy to China with autonomous vehicles)