are they safe though? .. all these small cars are awesome but there are safety issues with cars this small

What's it's offroad performance like? I wonder if they'll be available in a 4x4?

Small cars which are more maneuverable are less likely to get into accidents or flip. SUVs have a high chance of flipping in an accident (or even just hitting a curb). Flipping doubles your chances of dieing in a car accident.

On the other hand, I wouldn't would to be in this car and get rear-ended by a semi.

Hmmm... interesting... they re-invented the Smart!

Safety issues come from big cars, not little ones.

We need fewer cars not better varieties of the same problem. We need cities without cars, not stackable cars.

Looks suspiciously like a golf cart to me.

If every street you drove this car on disallowed large rigs and SUV's... it wouldn't be a safety hazard. The car is only a hazard when it's confronted by these monstrosities.

Inn't there a Nissan concept car in that looks remarkeably similar to that...?

M. Kennedy says, "we need cities without cars, not stackable cars"
Isn't this a very necessary step in that direction? Most cities don't have subways or buses that take you everywhere, but if at the end of the subway line is a car you can rent, drive five miles into the suburbs, then drive back to the subway terminus...you aren't driving your SUV the whole trip. And, this is electric, so, if we ever get rid of coal fired generators, electricity will then be carbon-neutral. You can't move a city to ban personally owned vehicles until you offer real transportation substitutes. This fills a necessary gap.

Does anyone else notice that these geniusses @ MIT basically ripped off the Smart Car? Daimler is going to have a fit if they actually try releasing this design on the market, purely because it really liiks like they "stole" the design.

well, just add in the shiftable chassis for the inside of the car like the one on futurecar in discover channel, that would make up for the tiny nose, and increase safety

From appearance alone, it looks like it could be totalled out in a collision with a bicycle. If they could get the safety issues under control, perhaps with airbags, special glass and clever engineering, I'd dare to ride one on local streets for errands and such. It'd likely be safer than a Segway.

What battery technology do they plan on using, and what is the proposed range?

I think the shared use model will be a tough sell in many first world nations, since it seems like a bit of a socialist concept. Nonetheless the business model might work well in Germany, or in small progressive economies such as Iceland.

Also... Just because the car is electric and very efficient doesn't mean its dust-to-dust environmental footprint is going to be favorable. What kind of resources will it take to produce and deliver these?

As an example, the #3 greenest vehicle from cradle to grave happens to be the Jeep Wrangler. Ironic, yes? Even worse, all hybrids are ranked very far down on the list, when the energy and resources are considered from all the special manufacturing involved, plus the shipping of the vehicles from the Far East before they are even driven.

I applaud this work by MIT. There are marketing gurus alive who could successfully bring this vehicle into prominence in society. There may also be manufacturing wizards, especially in Asia, who could produce this vehicle cheaply. I don't see it making real environmental sense any time soon. But that's okay, since we need to be thinking long term, and the world needs more ideas.

@ Mike D:

"What's it's offroad performance like? I wonder if they'll be available in a 4x4?"

It has an electric motor powering each wheel, therefore its already a 4x4...

In the 50's and 60's, North Americans said "you wouldn't catch me dead in one of those little European cars".
Well, we all know what happened to the NA auto industry since, and worse, will yet happen. All because they insisted on pushing their raw force gas guzzler vehicles onto people. And N-americans generally knew only how to be "mucho", whatever that means.
No initiation and no creativity.
Certainly no foresight in this area.
By the way, back in the early 50's Audi's predecessor, NSU, had a car similar to the one illustrated, but on 3 wheels.

Im a tree huger no doubt.....
But where is it writen then tree hugers must also be morons?
Big trucks are bashed right along with SUV's
Why? if it that big produce product moving truck wasnt there
you wouldnt be there either. Without that truck you couldnt build this little Jem termed the city car.
In a realistic fashion it's time to face reality.
The transportation is needed period no arguments.
Dont let the size scare you....:) wink.. wink..
That big truck made you who you are.
What is needed is better alternative power plants, to power the necesary comerice vehicles.

Now these little cars are a step in the right direction.
But I ask where do my kids sit so we can be truley energy consioius and comute together?

Instead of just cities, suburban US too needs to look at this as an alternative. To overcome the soccer moms and the SUVs, certain roads at specific hours should be accommodated for these low power vehicles - Say between 6:00 to 7:00 AM and 3:00 to 4:00 PM. Specific roads can be managed as restricted for these vehicles to move freely. This would inculcate the culture against running in an SUV for the grocery binge.

This is where America has to get away from its love affair with HUGE cars and the lies about small cars....

The SMART car is made by Mercedes and is on sale all over Europe. It has excellent fuel economy and as you will see from the video there are not "safety issues with cars this small".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ju6t-yyoU8s

Don't beleive the lies.

Hooray for Mr. Vairani and the folks at MIT for further developing this idea, that uh, I had as one of my senior design projects at Portland State University back in 1989. Same exact idea both based much on the shopping cart. Of course I have the presentation boards and photos and more for proof but if anything is to be learned here it is that designers must patent their ideas for credit to be given. The folks at MIT have that luxury whereas neither my university nor myself had the funds available way back in 1989. Great idea that someone beat them to by a decade or more.

electric cars and other applications of electric are great - no emissions, hooray! However, the electricity comes from somewhere...i.e. coal burning power plants - pollution still exists somewhere along the engergy line. Before we switch to electric we need to consider the source of energy.

Who cares if its a rip off of the smart car? Yes, designs like this have been showing up in sketch books for decades...its about time we're actually making the move towards more practical and environmental transportation.

volvo produced an high mileage vehicle in the '70s that was based on lightweight components, reduced friction (efficient engines and drive train) and aerdynamics...this car had a fuel efficiency between 60 and 80 mpg. Most people thought it was ugly, the car never got produced.

Also, what happened to that guy who developed a fuel (that could be used in internal combustion engines) that was approx. 70% water? This happened during the first "energy crisis", he was probably bought out by Shell or something... there's more money in raw oil anyhow.

to the person conscerned about suvs flipping: what if they flip on to you?

Jason,

Uh, No we don't need to consider the source of the electricity BEFORE we move to electric cars. Doing so will definitely slow the mass production of them. Yes, Consider where the E is coming from but, for god's sakes, do it WHILE we implement electric vehicles.

The technology looks great for reducing environmental impact, but that means nothing unless it meets needs for personal mobility. The best application of the technology is probably with New Mobility Hubs as used in Bremen, Germany and Toronto, Canada. Which is probably what MIT have in mind when they talk of a shared-use business model.

OK, These cars look amazing? But do you have any control of them? How fast can they go? How far could they go?

Well most of us born before the 1990's rode around in cars with no ABS, No Airbags, No Seatbelts etc etc.... Most of us survived!

A change of attitudes is needed.
Our cities are over polluted and over crowded. Oil is running out. Most major Asian City dwellers rely on motorbikes for transportation- the gridlock aint so bad as in the west, but the pollution as a result of cheaply made motorbikes is not the answer to our environmental needs..
I would drive one as an ALTERNATIVE TO A MOTORCYCLE. Improved safety and weather protection. Environmentally friendly.
What do i know?
Well i live in Saigon, and my company is prototyping a fully electric retro city car.

MIT claims it will go 50 miles/hr. Will be available in 2010.
I think this motor-in-each-wheel concept is very interesting (and not new - I believe Porshe proposed it decades ago). It greatly simplifies the mechanical part of the car and may prove to be a breakthrough in el. car production costs. If someone would come up with a $5000 el. car with 50 mile range and 50 mi/hr speed, I am sure it would sell like mobile phones.
Well-designed small cars may not be less safe than SUVs. Look on UTube for Smart crush test. 70 mi/hr into a concrete wall - driver box remains intact. Plus the air-bags... Remember, some people still ride bicycles and motorcycles! Some people still walk! Buying a tank to be safe around SUVs is not a solution either (well, I take this one back - Russian army is trying to sell thousands of tanks in excellent condition and would sell for close to nothing; 3-5 mi/gal but low initial costs...).

The whole idea sounds technically feasible but my question concerns the business model of sharing cars. I sure as heck wouldn't want to pull one of these stackables out and find the previous occupants got sick, or spilt drinks and food, or left it in some other messy condition. Look at the rental car business, there's lots of time and effort spent cleaning out the cars on their return. People take care of their own cars on the most part because they have to face the mess sooner or later but heck if I'm sharing, what are the odds of my getting the same car again? Pretty low, so why clean up after yourself, let someone else is deal with my mess. Take a look at public transportation, subway cars and buses are nortoiously dirty no matter how much cleaning maintence is done on them.

The whole idea sounds technically feasible but my question concerns the business model of sharing cars.

Carsharing is thriving.

there currently exists a vehicle that causes zero air pollution, reduces congestion, uses no fossil fuels, does not cause parking problems, and goes exactly where you need it to go.....

it's called a bicycle.

this car looks really cool but how much will they cost

I am a third year vehicle design student at Humber College in Toronto. we actualy are currently working on a project that will be featured in the Canadian International Autoshow right now that deals with many of the issues raised with this car. first of all the saftey issue is not as idea breaking as it is commonly believed, it is easy to make a car of such size strong enough to withstand most impacts any car will see, furthermore, by the time cars of this size are seen on the roads in any significant numbers, vehicle to vehicle remote communications systems should be in place that will greatly reduce collisions, ford has inrtoduced such concepts already and mercedes already has cars on the road that will alert you and stop itself from hitting a vehicle in front of you if you're not paying attention. Don't be surprised by what technology is capable of achieving in terms of vehicle handling, control, manufacturing and efficiency, look at the world around us. finally for now, the shared ownership isn't so hard to make work, large numbers of people in metropolitain areas don't own a car, a garage, or even a parking spot, in fact most large cities in the world already have at least one private company that operates a shared ownership vehicle business. times are always changing and therefore so too should our ideas about personal transportation, open up your minds, you may be surprised.

p.s. bicycles aren't that great in the winter

Hi i am doing a school related project. I was wondering how costly this stackable car would be for the consumer and how efficent this car is. When might this car be ready and could it change the American lifestyle?

This is all very interesting but WHY does Reuters report a story that is about a car that has NOT BEEN BUILT yet and NEVER WILL BE commercially and this is just a non story. Pure PR hype for MIT recruitment drive and alumnae funding. This is a no starter story. So why does Reuters do this story and print it all over the world. Yes, we need to stop all cars. SOON. Polar cities are coming.

GOOGLE: "polar cities" and see why Reuters refuses to write about them..... haha