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US engineering expertise merges with Basque manufacturing techniques in the launch of the Hiroko
(Basque for “urban”), a small car that gets even smaller. Less than 100
inches long and electric-battery powered, it’s been called the CityCar
by its creators at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Up
to two people can enter and exit the car by lifting up the glass
windshield — essentially the whole front of the car — and the driver
steers with a joystick. The wheels turn a full 360 degrees, so no
parking space is out of reach, and the electric-powered vehicle can be
folded (with the back of the car slipping under the front), so three can
fit in the space of one full-sized car. The first uses of the Hiroko
will be for car sharing programmes in cities around the world. The cars
are also linked by a central network, so drivers can find out if one is
close to their location.Production of 20 cars and a pilot programm will begin next year in Spain’s Basque country near Bilbao, and the first cars are set to roll down the road in spring of 2013. Barcelona, Berlin and Malmo, Sweden, have already stated their interest and MIT is looking at deploying the cars in Hong Kong and San Francisco.
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