Citycars and nanotubes

The Basque consortium Hiriko Driving Mobility has introduced an an MIT-designed all-electric vehicle that folds for storage. They call it the “EV.” Three of these nimble, uber-tiny, two-seat “Citycars” (as they were christened by MIT) will fit into a standard curbside parking space and, because their joystick-controlled wheels operate independently of one another, they can spin in place or drive sideways as necessary. 75 miles to a charge, MSRP: $16,000.

Hiriko is positioning the EV as a fleet vehicle to be bought in quantity by cities, then rented to individual drivers as a means of easing congestion – both traffic and respiratory. These credit card-activated rentals will download and implement a user’s driving preferences automatically, inclusive of music, cab temperature and maybe even color of exterior.

Meanwhile, IBM has created a 9nm carbon nanotube transistor. Kinks have yet to be worked out, but, as one Mac-centric Verge reader commented after the article linked here, think “iPhone that’s as powerful as a Mac Pro” … by 2015. Moore’s Law remains in force, it would seem, and Ray Kurzweil yet may see his singularity prophecy fulfilled.