You may never have to search for a parking space again (Hiriko Citycar) - pics and video

[Kadie]

You may never have to search for a parking space again: William Lark, inventor of the electric Hiriko Citycar, shows off the folding, two-seat vehicle in Berlin. Production is set for 2012.
Photo: Timur Emek / AFP/Getty Images (http://www.sfgate.com)


oh wow, check out this very short video...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-nYrhXa8Wo






http://www.hiriko.com/what-is-the-hiriko-project

[Hempathy]

1. The first time someone parks that thing illegally between my car and another...

it'll get squeezed even smaller. :evilgrin:

[-..__...]

3. No shit...

like some of these smug assholes...



More pics

Cross the boundary at your own peril.

[leftstreet]

6. LOL

:rofl:

[struggle4progress]

11. You scratch my car, and I'll ask my uncle Vito to park on yours

http://www.doobybrain.com.nyud.net:8090/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/smart-monster-car.jpg

[Kadie]

12. oh my gosh!

Awesome and funny at the same time!

:)

[woodsprite]

2. This looks like it'd be great going around the city.

We drive like that 90% of the time (less than 15 miles round trip). I'd be willing to replace our main car with that.

I rode in my friend's Smart Car the other day. That had a lot of leg room and the height of the seats were much more comfortable then our Taurus (which is our main vehicle). Sad to say though, that neither one would tow our trailer to the beach and back, but we only camp about 4 wks out of the year. May do more when we retire, but that won't be happening for awhile.

[kestrel91316]

4. I think the SmartCar is great as a second vehicle in a 2-car family.

But as a single person, I still need something with a tad more carrying capacity rather often.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

5. One of the things I loved about motorcycles, you could park them anywhere

Sadly, at 59, my wife thinks I'm too old for another rice rocket. She's probably right. I don't think I have the testosterone left to wear out the pegs from cornering or wear out the engine in 7,000 miles from too much red line anymore. Getting old sucks!

But God it was fun while it lasted!

[demodonkey]

14. O for pete's sake, 59 is not old. :-)

Get on your motorcycle and ride.

:-)

[POAS]

16. The hell you say!!! I'm 64 and just

got back up on two wheels 2 years ago after many years doing without.

Maybe this time go for a nice cushy cruiser!

[Canuckistanian]

7. I saw this concept 15 years ago

I think it was a design student's idea. Maybe it was him.

[Subdivisions]

8. Now that's what I'm talking about. This is the kind of innovative thinking that

will help get us through oil delcline and transition to something that makes more sense.

[mynameiswhat]

9. Sweet looking car!

I wouldn't feel safe in it tho...

[SheilaT]

10. I'm not sure I could even fit my purse in that,

let alone a bag of groceries.

I've been thinking about a Honda Fit as my next car, a few years down the road. I currently drive a Civic which has incredible cargo space. The trunk would hold two, maybe three bodies.

[TlalocW]

15. I'm looking at the Fit as well

I'm pretty disappointed with gas mileage though from all the major brands. I think each of the big guys could probably develop a non-hybrid, cheap car that gets 40+ mpg, but all I'm seeing is bragging about how their cars get 33 mpg. Judging from the mpg my 16-year-old Sentra still gets (upper 20s), I got that when I bought the thing.

Anyway, Fit looks like a nice, no-frills, cheap car with some innovative ideas for storage and decent mileage.

TlalocW

[JoeyT]

17. They already did it.

They just don't make them anymore.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzuki_Cultus#Geo_Metro

Apparently they tested a Metro against a Prius and they tied for fuel efficiency. Of course the Metro cost about a third as much brand new and it wasn't a hybrid.

[Heywood J]

21. It also sounded like angry squirrels under the hood.

I used to live near where they were built and knew several who had them. It was always a question of whether the 55HP would get us up to speed or not.

[JoeyT]

23. Yeah, they weren't powerhouses.

But neither is a Prius. From my experience between the Metro I used to own and the Prius a friend owns the Metro handled hills just as well if not better as long as you downshifted. I never had a whole lot of problem getting it up to speed on the highway. It did float once you hit 85 or so(I was 17 and stupid.), but the standard took off ok. It was a bit weird having to compensate for how many people were in the car when taking off, though. The more people you had in the car the more of a gap in traffic you needed.
And you really REALLY didn't want to wreck one. I hit a deer doing 60 and everyone thought I'd hit a telephone pole. Tore the motor off the mounts and ripped the transmission out from under the car.

All that aside I wish I still had the thing. I could spend 10 bucks filling it up and damned near get to the next state and back.

[Godhumor]

20. I own the Fit and love it

Absolute blast to drive, and the storage capabilities are phenomenal.

[Luminous Animal]

13. For city transport, we really need to move beyond personal vehicles

that suck power from any grid, renewable or not. It also promotes the conventional wisdom that the majority of public space should given over to pavement. The only time I "need" a car is when I have to transport things and this car doesn't have the capacity to transport anything other than people.

[SheilaT]

18. My sister lives in DC, has no car

and uses whatever it is they call the cars you can rent by the hour when she needs one.

I lived in the DC area before the Metro was open and had no car for seven years. The bus system was awesome.

As much as I love living in Santa Fe, it is really lacking in decent public transportation.

[hobbit709]

19. If I got my fat ass in that, I'd need a hoist to get out.

[eleny]

22. Looks like a vehicle and a coffin all in one