Car makers are developing technology that paves the way for small electric vehicles that behave like robots; electric network vehicles (EN-V) will be able to drive themselves and could be sent off on their own to do the school run or pick up the weekly shop.
car makers recognise that city vehicles of the future will need to be tiny in size, clean, energy-efficient and, given increasing levels of congestion in towns and cities, able to communicate with each other to make best use of limited road space.
BMW, Ford and GM are working on vehicle-to-vehicle technology that allows cars to communicate with each other – a first step towards fully-autonomous Electric Networked Vehicles (EN-Vs) fitted with sensors, cameras, wireless communication and GPS navigation that can drive without any input from the driver.
The GM EN-V uses similar technology to the Segway to travel 25 miles at 25mph, a range and performance possible in part because the vehicle does away with many of the sophisticated, but heavy, safety features that are now fitted as standard to all cars.
Tom Brown from the research and development department at General Motors (GM) told the BBC this week: “Unlike a conventional car, which is designed to protect its passengers and pedestrians in the event of a crash, the EN-V is more like an aircraft, in that it is designed to avoid crashing in the first place.”
A spokesperson for the Environmental Transport Association (ETA) said: “If the private car is to survive in increasingly crowded cities it must evolve into something with the qualities of the EN-V.”
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