General Motors is designing a two-seat vehicle that would be a perfect fit for people who don’t usually like to drive and live in densely populated cities.
The strange looking car is electric and wirelessly connected and its small size allows it to fit in tight traffic spaces. The Detroit automaker calls the conceptual car the EN-V or “envy” and its target market is consumers in large, people packed cities such as Shanghai and Beijing.
“This vehicle is going to be increasingly needed in the markets where we hope to grow our business,” Chris Borroni-Bird GM’s director of advance vehicle concepts told the Detroit Free Press.
One of GM’s major markets for growth has been China; they have teamed up with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. to sell cars in India where many cities have populations similar to Manhattan. China and India happen to be two of the world’s fasted growing car markets.
GM debuted the car in March during the 2010 Shanghai Expo and they are planning on bringing it to the Shanghai Expo in Las Vegas in January. Nothing like booze, gambling, and concept cars!
EN-V actually stands for Electric Networked Vehicle. The EN-V is also scheduled to make and appearance next year at the holy grail of auto shows, the Detroit Auto Show. As of now GM has only built 10 EN-Vs for demonstration.
A production ready model is most likely about a decade away and would appear overseas first, instead of the United States. The car’s two wheels make it small enough to fit multiple EN-Vs in one regular parking space.
“It’s really a step up from a bike,” Borroni said, of the EN-V. “We think it will be less expensive than a car but more practical to move around in.”
The automobile has two main features that make it ideal for urban areas, a small battery for electric driving and the nifty ability to communicate wirelessly with other vehicles (unless you don’t like other people).
Electric cars are much better for the congested foreign cities that have terrible air quality; they will produce no additional air pollution, and offer much move maneuverability than regular cars.
“These vehicles are going to be more like handheld PDAs, as opposed to today’s desktops,” Borroni added.
There has been no word on why these eco-friendly cars have such arrogant titles like Smart car, and EN-V.
