Here's an interesting design concept from David Raffai called the BMW Snug. It's very pod-like futuristic in a retro way. Blah Blah Blah. Nice car. I like it.
Honestly I'm more interested in the 'social' aspects of this car. Some city dwellers of the green variety see cars as hostile barriers on urban streets. What if they better integrated into the environment?
Here is a car with a built-in seat. In areas like Nolita in New York, there are benches on the sidewalks, usually wrapped around trees. The car/chair gives three people – or more depending on the car's popularity – the opportunity for three people to sit facing one another without someone standing or everyone in that 'huddle.'
Come to think of it, this is something that ZipCar should pursue on their own. In this day-and-age of contracting the manufacturing, they could contract the production of it from one of the car companies. They have enough locations throughout the US to make it worth their while. GM may have some spare capacity. They should talk to the city for permanent street parking since the car when parked serves a public function and improves the neighborhood. Finally, sell adspace on the bench and split the revenue with the street merchants.
Of course they could sell the extra production to anyone who wants to buy one. Provided they look at a video that comes up on their phones explaining the benefits of car sharing.
No comments:
Post a Comment