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Rinspeed, the mad-as-hatters Swiss-based car maker and modifier, is going to show off its new 'Micro Snap' adaptable electric vehicle at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas in January.
Rinspeed - famous for such projects down the years as a car that converts into a hydrofoil speed boat, a Lotus Elise that actually converts into a submarine, and a Porsche 911 pickup - last year showed off the full-size Snap concept. Basically, it's an autonomous, electric skateboard, upon which a variety of different bodies can be attached. At the CES last year, Rinspeed showed off a Snap that was configured as a mobile office, so that you could work while you robo-taxi'ed around the place.
The Micro Snap takes the basic idea - of separating the powertrain and batteries into a 'skateboard' - and shrinks it down, to roughly the size of a Renault Twizy. Onto that platform, you can then load a body that's either a refrigerated or heated delivery cube, for food transportation for instance, or a two-seat 'taxi' body for short urban journeys.
According to Rinspeed's boss, Frank M. Rinderknecht: "The days of large delivery vehicles that serve customers one after the other like pearls on a string over the course of the day are over. Because online business is booming and now includes the fresh food sector as well, [I] believe in small autonomous vehicles that swarm out and deliver their goods to customers 'just in time' and without detours. It couldn't be any more simple than that. In addition, this vision also includes two-seater "robo units," which quickly transport their passengers in comfort to their destination taking the shortest route. Customers increasingly want prompt deliveries and many passengers are unwilling to use shared taxis, which have to take time-consuming detours by design."
This is not just a concept either. Not only with Rinspeed show off the Micro Snap, and it's body-swapping and charging station, at the CES, but the company also says that it's working with investors to bring the Micro Snap idea to fruition. Expect to see them trundling around wearing the colours of your favourite delivery service, if not soon then eventually.
The Snap and Micro Snap also have another eco-friendly wrinkle to them. Rinspeed's idea is that the batteries and motors will wear out before the bodywork is past its sell-by, and so the 'skateboard' part has been designed to be easily recycled, while the upper body will then be mated with a new skateboard, possibly one with improved batteries, or sensor technology. That, theoretically, cuts down on losing an entire vehicle to obsolescence as electric and autonomous technology develops.