Car on a Stick by Ross Lovegrove
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 01.25.08
I mean, it's bad enough that cars clog the roads and consume fuel; when they are not running they need parking lots for storage and don't do anything useful. What the world needs is a solar powered all electric car. On a stick. That way, when you need to park, it frees up ground space. Oh, and once it is up there it acts as a streetlight.
That is what industrial designer Ross Lovegrove thinks.
The vehicles are designed to carry four passengers plus shopping, which is stored in recesses on the floor. The cars navigate automatically via voice command and satellite navigation.::Dezeen
Lovegrove: "So what you have here is a bubble car" very little material, transparent, very human, delicate, gentle, carrying people, democratic for all of us, non-polluting, no noise."
"Maybe at night you do need a bit of light in the bubble so when you're travelling through a city people can see you. You'd get this lovely low level of these ghostly people, beautiful, just moving through the city" ::CNN
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
- Make Cars Green: Too Little Too Late?
- 2008 Green Car Of The Year: Jetta TDI
- World Class Streets Have More Pedestrians, Fewer Cars.
- Is This What Life With the World's Highest Gas Prices Looks Like?
There's something about that guy that I just love...
I appreciate the thought process here; I am of the mindset that transportation design should be rethought with more sensibility and care.
However the celebrity-designer carte blanche approach to these kinds of things can often fall from being inspirational to being slightly insipid. To have the world as a captive audience for your creative contributions is no easy task. But to use that visibility for far-fetched solutions to problems that are in fact quite serious is something else entirely. The world, the 1st world for that matter, doesn't 'need' anything. If at all, it needs less. The other two-odd billion people out there who could benefit from cheap, efficient, low energy and highly functional transportation & technology is no laughing matter.
Design can and should be a tool to bring quality of life to everyone, not just the select few who can afford 'designer' things to make life easier.
The solution...use your celebrity to bring attention to these things, beyond just a $100 laptop. Real design talent lies in real solutions to real and immediate problems with real life restrictions. Show me something beyond the level of thinking that a 1st year design student could do and we'll go from there.
Slick. The seating arrangement is pretty anti-social though.
If Ross Lovegrove's name wasn't attached to this silly car no one would pay any attention to it. It reminds me of freshman-level design work I used to see hanging in the hall at The College for Creative Studies. It would have been nice if he'd spent his time trying to solve a real problem realistically.
The current personal transportation situation is a problem. While this solutions is totally unfeasible, it does have a lot of good ideas behind it. And thats what concepts are about.
Cars of the future will likely be electric or use hydrogen fuel cells. These both allow for the mechanics to be consolidated into a thin heavy base. I think that is reflected here.
Instead of creating more light pollution, wouldn't it be a better idea to plug these things back into the grid when they park and send any surplus electricity that way?
Cool idea. Perhaps they could elevate in front of homes, and become a solarium while parked at home.
Unfortunately no good for a winter city, where these vehicles would get covered in dirty slush.
i want some of whatever Dr. Lovegrove is smoking. it must be great if he decided to design the Jetson's car.
to bad that this concept like a lot of others just won't work under any conditions other than a perfectly clean city with lots of sunshine. the fact that our only reasonable way(as of now) to make hydrogen for fuel cell powered cars is still natural gas makes solar powered cars appealing but i am yet to see a design that could realistically be used in a wider range of environments
How does the parked bubblecar takes up less space than the car itself? Any bubblecar parking space would need the same amount of room in order for the car to in position for it to raise itself. I suppose the extra space under the bubblecar could be used once it's been parked, but the safety concerns would probably limit people from using the space below. Moreover, the space could only be used for the limited (and yet unknowable) time the owner wants to remained parked. This seems like a significant problem.
How does the parked bubblecar takes up less space than the car itself? Any bubblecar parking space would need the same amount of room in order for the car to in position for it to raise itself. I suppose the extra space under the bubblecar could be used once it's been parked, but the safety concerns would probably limit people from using the space below. Moreover, the space could only be used for the limited (and yet unknowable) time the owner wants to remained parked. This seems like a significant problem.
Looks more like a rolling petrie dish to me. No windshield wipers, no safety devices, little to no suspension. Heating and cooling in a mobile greenhouse? Like someone else pointed out, this isn't new. I saw something just like it on 'The Jetsons'... "Meet boy Elroy..."
-Lego
When it's rainy or muddy or cruddy, or whatever other kind of #%*@ you drive through, it would drip down on passers by. Nevermind falling fenderbergs.
I absolute love this new car idea. I am not only be pleased to use one of those cars but to be part of the realization of such a dream. Congratulations Mr. Lovegrove.
What about wheel chair accessibility with this transportation vision??