City Rover

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Project in collaboration with Huracan Motors - Electric Power ( http://www.huracanpower.com )

This project was a winner in the Michelin 2016 Design Challenge; MOBILITY FOR ALL

Design Credit: Marin Myftiu + Hussain Almossawi

The city rover will take you almost anywhere ... But the city is where both of you will be at home.

In an era where we have an app or gadget for almost any small thing, it is astonishing to realize how unspecialized our cars have remained, big or small, almost all cars on the market today are general purpose, city and highway-capable and of course, we pay that price everyday. Aimed exclusively at the urban lifestyle and itineraries, the Huracan City Rover takes advantage of all the benefits that specialization brings; it leaves long distance travel to trains, buses or planes, and reinforces the best city car qualities. With this approach it can be boast higher passenger density, lower costs and clean power, all this without feeling range of power limitations.

After more than 100 years of being around, in urban areas we still face primarily the same issues and annoyances of early 20-th century with transportation and even though today’s electric power systems provide more than enough power and autonomy for moving freely within a metropolitan area, a set of inertial factors makes it hard for common people to adapt.

Public transportation services make this adaptation easier because of the duration, length and frequency of the trips. This is why our concept concentrates on a vehicle type suitable also for taxi services and rentals aside from standard personal usage.

Another aspect more and more critical in urban transportation in Europe is the increase in restricted traffic areas in cultural and historic city centers. Because our architecture and life style is geared towards a cleaner and healthier living, there are more and more such areas being created allover Europe, opening huge opportunities for light electric vehicles.

A closeup of small vehicles

For decades we have been using small vehicles, or more commonly called micro cars. Some of these vehicles are among the most well known and successful machines ever created, ranging from the Isp / BMW Isetta to the original Fiat 500 or Mini. There are several key factors involved in the birth and growth of such designs but if we wanted to reflect all of them in one word it would be EFFICIENCY; Fuel, Economic, Space or material efficiency.

Another thing to remember is that almost all these designs were born in times of crisis or preceding an economic boom, times not so different from the ones we are living in today, with the only difference that is perhaps not just a crisis, but a more efficient way of living to which we have to adapt. Our cities are already painfully immerse in traffic and with the pressure from countries in development rising, this just isn’t the way to make it out of this century. For this reason, we revisited and studied the historical benefits and disadvantages of micro cars to push forward the concept of electric vehicle and make it not just an alternative, but a truly winning solution.