Docking cars, a new auto trend?+

The Segway is a brilliant modern moving pod, but it unfortunately lacks two of the three principles in design, usability and accessibility. The former because it isn’t that intuitive to use it. The later because you cannot bring back your groceries in an easy way. But one- or two-people cars for small distance are on the rise, especially docking cars. Two examples:

• Peugeot Dauphin concept car. An electrical car that drivers can dock at a recharging station. In Ricardo Baiao’s imagination, the Dauphin would come with an electric vehicle - two magnetic motors hidden inside the vehicle rear wheels - designed to run almost noiselessly for as far as 300 kilometers on one charge. The little plus: Users drive the car with a joystick instead a steering wheel.

• MIT’s Proximity car. The big tech university has been working on the project for more than four years. Among other features, the chassis of this electrical car is foldable, enabling it to be stacked like shopping carts, for recharging purpose but also because people would be able to share cars as if they were bicycles. Uber-architect Frank Gehry did contribute to this project supported by General Motors.