Personalised Urban Transport – EN-V from GM
In the future, as our global population continues to grow so will our cities. There are already a number of ‘mega cities’, and the number is only set to increase. As our roads become more densely populated the need for more mobile and compact forms of personal transport is becoming more important.
Over at General Motors (GM) and their partners Shanghai Auto have developed a trio of urban vehicles inspired by a vehicle developed through a previous partnership between GM and Segway back in 2009, the P.U.M.A (Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility).
Constructed from carbon fiber the EN-V major difference from the P.U.M.A is its exterior housing. In terms of weight and size the shell hasn’t made a major difference, it weighs less than 500 kilos and is about 1.5 metres in length. The EN-V’s are propelled by electric motors, one in each of the two wheels, with power coming from lithium-ion batteries that can be recharged from a conventional wall outlet and allow the EN-V to travel about 25 miles on a single charge.
The future of personalised transport? I’m not sure. But as a concept, it is certainly interesting. Given the unreliability of battery motors right now, and the cost of more conventional, but more polluting fossil fuels, perhaps the future of personalised urban transport is our feet? – Just a thought.
