The electric car that spins and folds

Engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have designed an electric city car that is so manoeuvrable it can spin around its own centre and folds to fit into the tiniest parking spaces.

The two-seater Hiriko has a single door in its front and swaps a conventional steering wheel for a joystick. Each of its four wheels contains the car’s steering, electric motor, suspension and brakes.

The Hiriko may appear unconventional, but it is similar in concept to the electric network vehicles (EN-V) that are being developed to drive themselves.

Future cars

BMW, Ford and GM are working on vehicle-to-vehicle technology that allows cars to communicate with each other – a first step towards fully-autonomous Electric Networked Vehicles (EN-Vs) fitted with sensors, cameras, wireless communication and GPS navigation that can drive without any input from the driver.

The GM EN-V uses similar technology to the Segway to travel 25 miles at 25mph, a range and performance possible in part because the vehicle does away with many of the sophisticated, but heavy, safety features that are now fitted as standard to all cars.

A spokesperson for the Environmental Transport Association (ETA) said: “The Hiriko and EN-V reflect the likelihood that city vehicles of the future will need to be tiny in size, clean, energy-efficient and, given increasing levels of congestion in towns and cities, able to communicate with each other to make best use of limited road space.