If it reminds us of the Jetsons, we’re obligated to share it here. Unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show, GM’s EN-V was designed to fill the niche of short-range urban transport, where roads are tighter and space is limited, but driving distances are shorter than rural or suburban trips. At about half the length of a Smart car, it weighs just 900 lbs. Each model – Miao, Jiao, and Xiao – has its own unique style and color, but they all have two-seat cabins fitted onto a two-wheel base. Co-designed by Segway, this base provides extreme mobility and allows the car to do cool things, like turn in place.
The coolest feature of the EN-V is its communication system. It uses sonar to detect pedestrians, other cars, and cyclists, and a slew of other gadgets – cameras, GPS, car-to-car communication – combined with the sonar allow the car to drive all by itself. Plus, you’ll never have to worry about searching for a parking space ever again. With a smartphone, you could simply program your EN-V to park itself and return to you when you need it.
Unfortunately, we won’t see the EN-V on the road for quite some time. GM says it’ll be another 20 or 30 years before consumers really need this type of car, but we’re glad to see they’re thinking ahead.
