A folding electric car modelled after transforming robots has been developed in Japan.
The £52,000 ($70,000) concept vehicle is expected to gain approval to run on public roads soon, opening the way to public sales.
Called ‘Earth-1’, it was inspired by the shape-shifting robots that feature in the popular Japanese anime series ‘Mobile Suit Gundam’.
The car’s design was conceived by the cartoon’s lead artist, Kunio Okawara, and developed by Tokyo-based startup firm Four Link Systems.
Orders are already coming in from buyers in Japan and abroad, with one overseas airport interested in using the vehicle for a ride-sharing service, Four Link claims.
The vehicle’s compact chassis is capable of folding itself up, creating something akin to one of Mobile Suit Gundam’s ‘mecha’ robot cockpits.
While the car is driven via a conventional steering wheel, users transform the chassis with a joystick.
As there were no existing mechanisms for a folding car chassis, Four Link developed special motors and other components from scratch.
‘We’d worked on control units, design assistance and robots as part of our business,’ Four Link President Hiroomi Kinoshita said, as reported by Nikkei.
The next step was to pursue ‘ultracompact mobility’, he said.
Four Link first stated its goal of developing an electric car five years ago, claiming its aim was to ‘beat a Toyota’.
While the car is driven via a conventional steering wheel, users transform the chassis with a joystick (pictured)
Called ‘Earth-1’, the vehicle was designed after the shape-shifting robots that feature in the popular Japanese anime series ‘Mobile Suit Gundam’
The car’s design was conceived by the cartoon’s lead artist, Kunio Okawara, and developed by Tokyo-based startup firm Four Link Systems
The vehicle’s compact chassis is capable of folding itself up, creating something akin to one of Mobile Suit Gundam’s ‘mecha’ robot cockpits
The firm said because it could not compete with the automaker on performance, cost or brand power, its engineers focussed on design.
With the help of ‘Gundam’ designer Mr Okawara, the team developed a robotlike vehicle that is road legal despite its strange design.
‘As cars mature, [we’re] realising a dream that everyone once dreamed of,’ Mr Kinoshita said, referring to youthful fantasies of futuristic vehicles.
Four Link has priced its electric car at £52,000 ($70,000), close to what you would pay for one of Toyota’s Lexus luxury sedans.
‘In terms of scarcity,’ Kinoshita said, ‘it beats the Lexus.’
As there were no existing mechanisms for a folding car chassis, Four Link developed special motors and other components from scratch
Four Link first stated its goal of developing an electric car five years ago, claiming its aim was to ‘beat a Toyota’
The firm said because it could not compete with the automaker on performance, cost or brand power, its engineers focussed on design
With the help of ‘Gundam’ designer Mr Okawara, the team developed a robotlike vehicle that is road legal despite its strange design. Pictured is the car before (left) and after (right) transforming
Four Link has priced its electric car at £52,000 ($70,000), close to what you would pay for one of Toyota’s Lexus luxury sedans
The transofrming car was inspired by the shape-shifting robots that feature in the popular Japanese anime series ‘Mobile Suit Gundam’ (file photo)