Imagine a car that you don’t use like a car. A car that would be more like a bike, the way some cities do with a bike sharing scheme. You get out of a train station, and there are bikes or small cars waiting for you. Personal transportation objects for a public transportation system. All the vehicles belong to a large single operator, with people, or customers, using one or another when they need it. Pretty much like a trolley at a supermarket. Of course, they have to be zero emission, meaning electric propulsion. The Hiriko vehicle is like this, it is advertised as a new urban mobility concept for new cities.

But the Hiriko has more than electric propulsion, it can fold itself to minimize parking space. The idea is not new. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has been studying it for several years, but it was Matra, a french company, that invented it in 1992. This first running prototype is a half size scale model, and despite its reduced size, it shows that this technology can work. Much worthy of attention next to its folding ability, are the wheels, which can make the Hiriko turn around on itself. That’s its best feature in my mind. Of course, the folding ability is great, but I wouldn’t want to live in a city that would be so crowded, it would require folding cars…
Check the video below, and leave a comment.