Hiriko folding electric car solves parking woes [video]

Tried parking in a major city? Yeah, not fun. When you finally find a space you suddenly regret hiring that huge car – just imagine if you could fold it up so it fit the space.

This piece of automotive genius from MIT and Hiriko Motors is not only eco-friendly it’s a space-saving crowd-puller.

The clever car is built using four drive motors, suspension, brakes, and steering systems for each wheel, meaning that the car can fold up small for parking in town.

Check out the video below to see it show it’s skills.

The fold-away two-seater has a 70-mile range and will trundle through the city streets at an adequate 31mph being pushed out by its 20 horsepower power source.

Watching the video it seems that all the controls are on a small tablet-sized steering wheel which can be flipped over to the left or right depending which country you’re in and the side you should be driving on.

I am guessing the reason for this is not only to save money on producing left-hand and right-hand variants, it looks like it could be quite easy to hit the accelerator if it was a pedal as the car performs it’s trick.

It’s not going to excite petrol-heads or boy racers but as an inner-city run around I am sure having your car fold up and slip in the tiniest of spaces will be a bonus for rental firms for a start – just think how many of these they could fold away and store in their lots?

No pricing or release a date are available yet, but if it was made available – would you at least want to have a go?

Let me know below or on the GN Facebook page.