Car of the Future: Skateboard
February 24th, 2007 by Kilwag
The Discovery Channel has a series about GM’s car of the future (not to be confused with Chef of the Future) which is basically a radical (no pun intended) new platform for building cars. Why do we care? The basic chassis system is officially called “The Skateboard.” It’s powered by fuel cells and has no central motor, allowing different body configurations to be bolted on at will. Also, the steering is fly-by-wire, meaning the turning impulse is controlled electronically like a jet plane instead of mechanically. And yes, it looks like a skateboard. Catch the video after the jump. [Source: AutoblogGreen]
They repeatedly hammer home the Skateboard name. Later in the video they keep trying to associate it with the phrase “young people” or “young designer.” It’s as if the car platform somehow inherently lends itself towards creatively freeing the younger designer. I’d say they are wrong, because the designs they show are pretty much crap. They have a blank canvas and lack of traditional automotive design restrictions, and they best they can come up with is something that looks like a Nike cross training sports sandal.
The concept is great. It’s truly revolutionary technology that I hope we all get to drive one before GM goes out of business.
February 24th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
Doesn’t seem like the “skateboard” term is really applicable to this vehicle.