The New MIT “City Car”

Green Tech, we need solutions to help cease or slowdown Global Warming before we get instant skin cancer from getting our newspaper in the morning. A lot has been in the works as of the last few years, in order to reduce the rate in which we’ll bake. Hundreds of ideas and geo-engineering conferences have been looking everywhere for a solution. Anywhere from vehicle emissions reduction, to even placing a giant mirror over Greenland to keep the ice from melting.

It is very frightening to imagine a world in which nothing grows, and oxygen masks become an everyday necessity. So many times have we been warned about the decline of the environment, and still have we to find a suitable solution. MIT does not hope to end global warming with the “City Car”, but they hope to influence a movement in that direction.

Public transportation, as we all know it, sucks. You either have to pay large quantities of money to a shady taxi driver or stand in a bus/train feeling somewhat like a sardine doused in sweat. As you can tell, I’ve used the South Florida public transportation system. I’m sure New York, Mexico City and Tokyo can feel me on that little tid-bit. On the other hand, carpooling and public transportation is very important in the cause to end global warming. MIT wants to change the way we look at public transportation so that people use it.

Imagine getting off of work and the first thing you see outside your office is, literally, a stack of cars. Not stacked vertically, per say, but against each other like a trail of fallen dominoes. You hop in a vacant “City Car” and proceed to drive to your destination. As you drive to point B, you hear the hum of the individual in-wheel electric motors. Much nicer than the six o’clock bus that holds it’s own industrial orchestra using squeaky brakes, wheezy hydraulics, and loud engine as instruments.

The “City Car” uses a suspension system currently named “Wheel Robots”, that eliminates the need of traditional drive train configurations because they are self–contained, digitally controlled, and on top of that, Omni-directional steering. You can rotate the steering wheel 360 degrees for optimal control In those tight urban spaces.

MIT isn’t making a personal vehicle here. They are trying to create a new form of public transportation to replace trains and buses for the more environmental friendly “City Car”. I believe this is a great idea considering that these vehicles are a bit more personal than your local bus route. Although, I do see small problems that may occur, since these vehicles would be placed within the hands of the public. Things like cleanliness and maybe even the abuse the cars might take from the less responsible users. I don’t know if I’d enjoy the nice quiet ride with essence of Bubba, the Local Drunk providing the aromatics.

Even with that said, I still believe MIT is on the right track to find a new alternative for public transportation. This is maybe what people needed to hop on the Green Wagon. A system of stackable electric vehicles, to get you from point A to Point B. Imagine how much easier it would be to get a date too. A two seat public transportation vehicle, and you’re all alone. See the girl waiting for the next stackable car? Remind her of how important car-pooling is, and share the ride to your next destination, you do the math. The “City Car” is currently patent-pending and is due for a prototype sometime next year.