GM's EN-V Envisions Future Of Personal Mobility

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.

"In megacities like London, New York, Beijing, Singapore, and New Delhi, the sheer number of vehicles on the road has become unsustainable," says Chris Borroni-Bird, General Motors Director of Advanced Technology Vehicle Concepts.

"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.

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