Future Bizarre vehicle designs http://revealedtech.com/gaming/future-bizarre-vehicle-designs/

Toyota

 

Toyota

 

Designing vehicles that make the crowded metropolises of the world more navigable seems to be on the minds of major car companies and startups alike. Many whacky designs have been proposed as the solution to inner city transportation, but it's hard to tell which will suit the lifestyles of city dwellers best.

In recognition of this, Toyota is introducing the Open Road Project, which aims to encourage the practical use and customisation of its own urban transport solution, the i-Road vehicle. The idea is that Toyota will seek creative input from the design community, automotive specialists and members of the public to optimise the car ahead of general production.

The company is inviting people based in Tokyo to apply to be one of the guinea pigs in a trial customisation project for the cutesy, three-wheeled i-Road vehicle. 100 participants will be selected in total and in return for use of the vehicle will give the company proposals on two different factors: customisation through additive manufacturing and ways in which parking could be made more convenient.
Participants in the project will be able to express their personal tastes by custom 3D printing body parts for the vehicle to allow them to express their individual tastes.

Along with Toyota, several other companies have cooked up designs they believe will dominate urban roads in years to come. Here are some of those exploring their options right now.

Lutz Pathfinder Pods

Lutz Pathfinder Pods are exactly the kind of self-driving vehicles that many believe will put urban taxi drivers out of business. The Pods are currently being tested on roads in Milton Keynes as part of the UK government's investment in autonomous cars.

 

Lutz

 

They are two-seater pods that contain sensor and navigation tech provided by the University of Oxford's Robotics Group. They look bizarrely tall considering how small they are. The geometric wheel covers play tricks on your eyes, making the pods look like tiny and sturdy, but colourful tanks.

Gogoro Smart Scooter

 

Katie Collins

 

Unveiled at CES in January 2015, Gogoro makes a compelling case with its Smartscooter, both thanks to the way it has applied the sharing economy business to battery technology and also the cute but cool design, which is kept both modern and retro thanks to its curvaceous design.

The zero-emissions scooter relies on an energy network spread out across a city. Thanks to a subscription model, users can go to a station, lift out their empty green battery modules and take a second from the charging racks. Gogoro is not just about the scooters -- although they are pretty rad. It's about redesigning the energy infrastructure of cities.

LIT Motors C-1

LIT Motors describe the C-1 car-cum-motorbike as the "ultimate in urban transportation" This is because it allows you to park easily and slip through traffic, as well as potentially being your only and primary vehicle.

 

LIT Motors

 

The vehicle, which carries two people (one behind the other), is still in prototyping phase, but LIT hopes that it will have a top speed of over 100mph. It balances thanks to two gyroscopes and contains "landing gear" that can be deployed when the C-1 is parked. Several designs of the vehicle are currently available, but basically it looks like one of those very long motorbikes wrapped in the skin of Smart Car.

Halfbike II

 

Halfbike II

Kolelinia

 

Halfbike II is a recent Kickstarter success story, in that it shot past its $50,000 goal and ended up raking $973,764. Sitting somewhere between a scooter, a penny-farthing and a tricycle, the Halfbike II has been designed to "give you a different perspective" on the city and "disconnect you for a moment from your daily routine [allowing] you to focus solely on your body and the ride itself".

It definitely has the potential to transform your enjoyment of your commute, but where would it belong in a crowded city such as London -- on the pavement, the roads? It's hard to tell.

Ford Electric Bike

 

Ford MoDe:Me electric bike

James Temperton

 

Ford's MoDe:Me and MoDe:Pro are electric bikes designed to be whacked out by commuters who are struggling to make progress through busy city streets. Like Bromptons, they are foldable so that they can be taken on trains, and they work with a companion app that provides information on bike-friendly routes, weather and nearby stations.

 

For now, both bikes remain prototypes, but if testing is successful, they may eventually be released to the public to dodge traffic on city roads.

 

Source Article from http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2015-05/11/future-urban-vehicles-to-transform-commute http://cdni.wired.co.uk/620x413/g_j/iroad-3.jpg
Future Bizarre vehicle designs