GM unveils tiny futuristic cars

General Motors and its Chinese partner SAIC will showcase the “Electric Networked-Vehicle” launched Wednesday in their joint pavilion at the Shanghai Expo, which opens May 1 and runs for six months. EN-V concept car, GM’s “automobile solution” for the future, just might fit into an apartment foyer. The two-wheel, two-seater EN-V, which looks something like an oversized vacuum cleaner, is not just about making vehicles small, lightweight and emission-free, the company says.

With the trunk-less EN-V, GM has jettisoned the traditional “three box” system and gasoline-fueled engine in place of a pure-electric minivehicle meant strictly for city driving. Five fit in the parking space needed for one conventional vehicle, says Kevin Wale, president and managing director for GM China Group. “GM’s vision with SAIC is petroleum-free, emission-free, accident-free and congestion-free,” said Wale. “We think we can do that by combining the benefits of electricity and connectivity.”

The 1.5 meter by 1.5 meter (about 5 foot by 5 foot) EN-V appears to build on GM’s earlier work with Segway Inc. in developing the PUMA, or Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility, vehicle. It will use the same types of battery cells as the Segway and the same battery supplier, Valence Technology Inc., said Christopher Borroni-Bird, GM’s director of advanced technology vehicle concepts. Apart from its diminutive size and light weight — 400 kilograms (880 pounds) including the passengers — the vehicle would offer drivers the option of “autonomous driving:” letting the car drive itself via an elaborate system of GPS systems, digital maps, roadway and vehicle sensors, cameras and other devices.