Robot-Assisted Pivo 2 Electric Car To Debut In 2011?
by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 07.13.08
When does a fanciful concept of an electric commuter car actually become the real deal? Possibly only when the first few or the first few hundred start rolling off the assembly line. Nissan and Renault have been making the rounds of the auto shows showing off the robot-assisted electric Pivo 2, but last week the Associated Press reported that Portugal has agreed to set up a network of electric charging stations and the Pivo 2 is going to be released there in 2011. It's a bit hard to imagine this funky, funny-looking bug-like vehicle anywhere but in a Pixar movie.
"Laminated" lithium-ion battery
The Pivo 2 is reported to have four wheel-based engines and a robot instructor communicating with the driver on the car's different functions, using voice and feature recognition to sense a driver's mood. One of Pivo's coolest features is that the rotating cabin and pivoting wheels enable sideways driving, making conventional parallel parking a thing of the past - great for cities such as Tokyo and San Francisco! Three people can fit in the bubble-shaped cabin. No word yet on range for the Pivo 2, or the estimated price. Seems like Nissan/Renault are going to have to work fast to get this out the door in 2.5 years. Via ::Associated Press
Read More:
More Concept Cars Than You Can Shake A Stick At
Nissan Shows "Pivo" Concept Electric Vehicle
Republican US Senator John Warner Asks US Department Of Energy To Determine Most Energy Saving Highway Vehicle Speed
|
Carbon Nanotubes Could Make Artificial Photosynthesis Possible
|
Not sure about the wisdom or marketing savvy behind naming a car "beer." ("pivo" is beer in Czech.)
Oh, for Pete's sake! I want a way to get around without polluting as much as anybody, but no one's going to drive that if it looks like that!
I mean, I wash my hair with baking soda and make my own tooth powder to brush my teeth with, but I wouldn't be caught driving around in that!
It's a really great idea, but they really ought to make it look less, as you said, like something from a Pixar cartoon. If you want something radically new and different to catch on, the best way to do that is probably to make sure that in order to take it up, people don't have to place themselves ostentatiously at the fringe.
A car that is easy to parallel park? Put me on the waiting list!!! I almost flunked drivers ed because I couldn't parallel park. Still can't do it. Something to do with having no depth perception. A car parking itself is what I need!
Designers of these ridiculous concept cars must get together once or twice a year over BEvERages and laugh their collective rear ends off. I suppose making the car look like a joke will get more headlines and cause it to stick in people's memory.
Rotating cabin? Hmm....I wonder how much that useless feature would cost. And what exactly would one do if it malfunctioned and stuck that way? People have been parallel parking for years without major incident. Those who can't still seem to be surviving.
Note to Nissan/Renault .... stop trying to fix non-existant problems and put your efforts into something simple, reliable, and affordable. That's all we consumers really want, you know.
Robot-Assisted? I believe that's how the "apocalypse" started in quite a few sci-fi movies.
They cant be serious?
It's so cute! I'd drive it. I think it looks great.
I can parallel park with the best of them, even talked my older sister through parallel parking over the phone once, but it would be nice not to have to.
I wonder what kind of range it gets. If it can hit 50 mph and travel 80 miles or so on a charge, I'd consider it.
I guess I'm in the minority - but I like how it looks. Look around next time you are on the road and you'll see quite a few cars that I can't believe anyone would buy. This one for example.
It is all going to come down to cost and reliability. I'm excited to see what becomes of Pivo and it's monkey co-pilot.
I thought the Nissan Micra K12 looked weird, but now I am driving one, I would drive this one too :)
If the cost isn't too high i will buy one, i thing it looks kinda funky :)
It's silly.
If you can move the wheels independently, you can turn in place already. You don't need a pivot between the cabin & the base.
They didn't mention the laminated batteries but people might be interested to know that the reason companies like Tesla have to use a ton of tiny Li battereis is because Chevron bought patents regarding them and refuses to licence large monolithic battereis for transportation applications.
I would drive this, but do think it's unnecessary to have the cabin pivot if the wheels already do.
I doubt it is crashworthy and may only allowed to be a NEV. No bumper says no go. Small tires says go-cart.
I think this is a great idea. I dont have any problems with it what so ever. Ya i mean the look may not be to appealing,. but believe it or not people this is the new future of cars.. I have a product for all electric vechiles that is going to be engineered. My product will make it so a owner of a electric vechile will never need to plug their vechile into a wallfor a charge. People will not have to wait for their car to be charged, and they will never have to be worried about their vechiles battery dyeing out. Im telling you it may not seem like a big deal now, but it will very soon.
I think this is a great idea. I dont have any problems with it what so ever. Ya i mean the look may not be to appealing,. but believe it or not people this is the new future of cars.. I have a product for all electric vechiles that is going to be engineered. My product will make it so a owner of a electric vechile will never need to plug their vechile into a wallfor a charge. People will not have to wait for their car to be charged, and they will never have to be worried about their vechiles battery dyeing out. Im telling you it may not seem like a big deal now, but it will very soon.
i cant wait till the pivo 2 comes out I LOVE IT its perfect for me... does anyone know how much the car will be selling for cause i want one of these in 2011