Rapid urbanization, aging populations and more demand for personal
mobility globally present challenges today’s vehicles will be
hard-pressed to meet. Envisioning what that future will need gave birth
to the Electric Networked Vehicle, or EN-V.
Click here to see video of EN-V in action
“Building more and wider roads is expensive and doesn't really solve all of the problems, meaning that smarter solutions are needed,” he says. “Public transportation is important, but with so many people going from point to point in different directions, some personal transport is needed as well.”
Following completion of the Chevrolet Sequel fuel cell vehicle
program in 2007, Borroni-Bird began working on what became the EN-V
program. The first concepts debuted at the recent 2010 Expo Shanghai,
where they wowed crowds and collected awards.
“One step is to reduce the physical footprint of vehicles,
especially since so many only carry one or two occupants anyway,” he
says. “By shrinking EN-V down to just two wheels and two upright seats,
several of these vehicles can fit in the same physical space as one
traditional car. Electric propulsion in short-range urban commuter
vehicles will allow air quality in megacities to be vastly improved.”
The EN-V concepts take advantage of enabling technologies developed
within GM, including powertrain electrification, sensing, automation and
Telematics.
Combining vehicle-to-infrastructure communications technology
pioneered by OnStar and vehicle-to-vehicle communications, EN-V users
could benefit from real-time rerouting to avoid congestion while
advanced sensing technology could allow autonomous operation privately
or as part of vehicle-sharing programs.
As part of a public sharing network, a user could summon an
autonomous vehicle to his or her location using a smartphone application
and then sit back and relax while they are whisked off to a
destination. Without the need to drive, passengers are able to take
advantage of OnStar communications technology to work or play while
safely riding.
The sensing technology, derived from the winning vehicle in the 2007
DARPA Urban Challenge allows EN-V to detect other vehicles, obstacles
and pedestrians, virtually eliminating crashes.
For those that prefer to drive, the light and nimble, fun-to-drive
EN-V offers full manual control while its autonomous mode can provide a
new degree of independence to the young, old and physically challenged.
“EN-V represents another major step forward in GM’s leadership in
the development of advanced vehicle technology,” says Borroni-Bird. “By
creating a new automobile DNA through the convergence of electrification
and connectivity, EN-V offers the promise of eliminating traffic
congestion, crashes and vehicle emissions in tomorrow’s urban
communities.”
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