Experts design folding car

[saaby93]

How do you beocme an expert
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21882453

Almost the size of a bubble car
It ends with the Slogan 'dont buy this car'

[zebra]

It's probably wrong of me but I like that.

[deadtom]

very cool, I like ideas like this.

No idea if it would work in practise, but in theory it sounds like a good thing

[SturdyHSV]

A concept city car that doesn't look atrocious?

Looks pretty easy to push over once it's parked though, damn yoofs.

[McWigglebum4th]

I'm not convinced

1 its electric therefore it causes everyone within 27 miles to turn instantly homosexual and we can't have that when you have the normal commute of 269.5 miles a day

2 Surely with modern electronics we can build a perfect safe car with a tiny wheelbase. The only thing that dictates a long wheelbase is our desire to sit on our arse. Why can't you have a car where you stand in it?

[trashbat]

You can have this today.

Simply take (A), a common or garden Lancia Delta:



and (B), a common or garden parking space:



then drive (A) into (B) as rapidly as possible.

[Mr2Mike]

McWigglebum4th said:

2 Surely with modern electronics we can build a perfect safe car with a tiny wheelbase. The only thing that dictates a long wheelbase is our desire to sit on our arse. Why can't you have a car where you stand in it?

Ye cannae change the laws of Physics. Something with a small wheelbase and high center of gravity will want to fall over more easily when cornering or braking, and electronics can't stop that (unless combined with e.g. steerable rocket boosters on the roof.

[Landlord]

I wonder how it would fare in a head-on collision?

[callmedave]

This does not make sense to me, you have to park the car in to a space and then 'fold' it, but you need the space to 'unfold' it, so how does it save space? it takes up less space when it is parked, but that area need to be 'reserved' for me to unfold the car.

If it was to be parallel parked on a street, another car pulls up behind, now i dont have enough space to unfold my car and drive it, it this what will save traffic jams? no one can get in their car and drive it!

unless ive missed something like it can be drive in its 'folded' state (i dont have speakers at work so didnt hear what was being said.

[troc]

Mr2Mike said:

(unless combined with e.g. steerable rocket boosters on the roof.

Do. Want.

[The Vambo]

This is not just any mental idea, this is a Rinspeed Presto mental idea, circa 2002

[Landlord]

callmedave said:

This does not make sense to me, you have to park the car in to a space and then 'fold' it, but you need the space to 'unfold' it, so how does it save space? it takes up less space when it is parked, but that area need to be 'reserved' for me to unfold the car.

If it was to be parallel parked on a street, another car pulls up behind, now i dont have enough space to unfold my car and drive it, it this what will save traffic jams? no one can get in their car and drive it!

unless ive missed something like it can be drive in its 'folded' state (i dont have speakers at work so didnt hear what was being said.

Nothing in the audio that dispels your point. However, it was heavily (well, completely) emphasised that this would be "like a taxi, but where you're the driver". So a bit like zip car, but you only pay for the time you have it from one parking point to another. I'd imagine they'd have say, two or three of these behind each other and lined up along parking bays, and you take the one furthest from the back - a bit like shopping trolleys.

Still wouldn't want to risk a crash in one though.

[Six Fiend]

callmedave said:

This does not make sense to me, you have to park the car in to a space and then 'fold' it, but you need the space to 'unfold' it, so how does it save space? it takes up less space when it is parked, but that area need to be 'reserved' for me to unfold the car.

If it was to be parallel parked on a street, another car pulls up behind, now i dont have enough space to unfold my car and drive it, it this what will save traffic jams? no one can get in their car and drive it!

unless ive missed something like it can be drive in its 'folded' state (i dont have speakers at work so didnt hear what was being said.

You missed the very obvious point.

Park nose in to kerb as its length is the width of a normal car

You can park 3.5 of these across a normal car space.

[anonymous-user]

Six Fiend said:

callmedave said:

This does not make sense to me, you have to park the car in to a space and then 'fold' it, but you need the space to 'unfold' it, so how does it save space? it takes up less space when it is parked, but that area need to be 'reserved' for me to unfold the car.

If it was to be parallel parked on a street, another car pulls up behind, now i dont have enough space to unfold my car and drive it, it this what will save traffic jams? no one can get in their car and drive it!

unless ive missed something like it can be drive in its 'folded' state (i dont have speakers at work so didnt hear what was being said.

You missed the very obvious point.

Park nose in to kerb as its length is the width of a normal car

You can park 3.5 of these across a normal car space.

I am sure a smart car has been doing this successfully for about the last 10 years. These types of projects make me want to vomit and I would like to think that my girlfriend, friends or kids would slap me one in the bks if I were ever to consider buying one.

[Blukoo]

The Vambo said:

This is not just any mental idea, this is a Rinspeed Presto mental idea, circa 2002

I was just about to post the same thing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43FIhroaMck

[hairyben]

pffft, I "designed" this 20 years ago. shoulda patented it...

callmedave said:

unless ive missed something like it can be drive in its 'folded' state (i dont have speakers at work so didnt hear what was being said.

So long as the small car is stable at speeds up to say 35 you could have it fold/unfold on the fly. Although the speed bumps round here would probably destabilize the folded car, so we'll just have to all buy v8 porsche cayennes instead.

[PistonSmegs]

I quite like that.