Rinspeed has announced plans to introduce the Snap
concept at CES Las Vegas next year. Billed as a "comprehensive
approach" to allow autonomous electric vehicles to relieve the burden of
congested streets and polluted cities, the concept is essentially a skateboard
platform which can be equipped with different vehicle modules called pods.
The skateboard platform contains autonomous driving
technology and an electric powertrain. Rinspeed says these backbones would be
"virtually free from mechanical wear" and equipped with
"long-lasting IT components that are not bound to be outdated
quickly." Even if the platform and its technology become obsolete, owners
could simply swap it out for a new platform and keep using their existing pods.
Rinspeed envisions an assortment of different pods
could be developed for the Snap including everything from traditional passenger
pods to delivery pods that could be used to deliver packages. Of course, there
are also more radical ideas such as mobile offices and a living room on wheels.
The pods could also be used without the skateboard
platform. For example, the company says users could have a stationary pod act
as an office in the center of a city.
