General Motors presents emissions free EN-V concept
In Shanghai, General Motors in collaboration with its Chinese joint venture partner Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) have unveiled a radically innovative, zero emissions concept vehicle dubbed EN-V (Electric Networked-Vehicle). Engineered to alleviate concerns surrounding traffic congestion, parking availability, air quality and affordability for tomorrow's cities, the stunningly compact two-seater was presented in three different variations: Jiao (Pride), Miao (Magic) and Xiao (Laugh).
The small bubble-like models will be publicly unwrapped at the SAIC-GM Pavilion at World Expo 2010 Shanghai from May 1 through October 31. Penned from different design teams around the globe, each of the three EN-Vs boast unique vision, which showcases the flexibility of the propulsion platform. Xiao (Laugh) was sketched by GM Holden's design team in Australia, while the look of Jiao (Pride) was drawn by designers at GM Europe and Miao (Magic) was designed at the General Motors Advanced Design Studio in the U.S. state of California.
The innovatory-shaped body and canopy of EN-V are made from carbon fiber, custom-tinted Lexan and acrylic, materials that are more commonly used in race cars, military airplanes and spacecraft because of their strength and lightweight characteristics. Thanks to that, the future urban solution weighs less than 500 kilograms and is about 1.5 meters in length. For driving the vehicle, GM uses electric motors in each of its two driving-mode wheels powered by lithium-ion batteries that produce zero emissions. Charged once, the battery pack allows the EN-V to travel at least 40 kilometers.
EN-V can also improve the efficiency of the public electric infrastructure since the vehicle can communicate with the electric grid to determine the best time to recharge based on overall usage. By combining the Global Positioning System (GPS) with vehicle-to-vehicle communications and distance-sensing technologies, the EN-V concept can be driven both manually and autonomously.
