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Small beats big: the City Transformer from the Israeli start-up of the same name was one of many micromobility concepts at the IAA.
The highlight of the mini car: The chassis can be retracted, the trolley then shrinks to a meter wide.
Photo: CityTransformer
In Germany there are too many cars for the existing road space.
In Hamburg, for example, there are currently 50,000 more cars on the road than in 2015, an increase of seven percent.
The massive e-car innovations from the manufacturers that were presented at the IAA auto show will not solve this space problem, on the contrary.
However, micromobility solutions were also presented at the mobility show: three-wheeled mini vans as well as e-scooters and cargo bikes.
These ideas came mainly from newcomers to the trade fair.
The electric drive creates completely new possibilities for vehicle designers, and this also applies to the tiny segment.
Rooms can be used differently, weights can be better distributed.
Innovations are also stimulated by the fact that batteries are becoming better and cheaper.
The Dutch company Fulpra, for example, presented a hybrid of a bicycle and a van in Munich.
The luggage compartment of the tricycle with XXL luggage rack holds 3000 liters, is around 1.60 meters long and 80 centimeters wide.
There is space for a Euro pallet, boxes or several cardboard boxes.
And the Fulpra wheel was not the only concept vehicle at the trade fair in Munich in which several products apparently merged into one.
The Swedish company Vässla, a leading manufacturer of e-scooters in its home country, presented the Vässla Bike, a mix of an e-scooter and an e-bike.
The Scandinavians are planning a Europe-wide success with this vehicle;
But above all, they want to get started in Germany.
"For Vässla, Germany is the most important market in Europe," said Hannes Ahbe, head of Vässla in Germany.
Polestar and BMW cargo bikes
Not all car manufacturers want to leave the micromobility market to the start-ups without a fight.
Polestar, for example, presented a functional cargo bike prototype for last mile transports: “Re Move” is the name of the vehicle that was developed within a few months.
The cargo bike and its low-carbon aluminum chassis can carry loads of up to 180 kilograms.
The bike is supposed to be Polestar's answer to the “increasing demand for online shopping and offers for home delivery”.
BMW also advertised a cargo bike prototype in Munich, the Cube Concept.
At the home game, the Munich team showed further concepts "for sustainable urban mobility".
For example a high-speed pedelec and an e-motorcycle.
The Israeli company City Transformer, which was founded in 2014, is showing a mini-mobile whose track can be shrunk at the push of a button.
The micromobile has an adjustable chassis, in which the wheels, which are normally positioned to the side of the cabin, can be retracted into the wheelhouses, so to speak.
As a result, the width of the two-seater, in which the driver and passenger sit one behind the other, shrinks from 1.40 meters to one meter.
And that in turn dramatically increases the likelihood of finding a parking space for the vehicle.
Finding a parking space will be ten times as easy as before, according to the manufacturer.
In the small format, the mini car drives a maximum of 45 km / h, at full width it is 90 km / h.
Car with replaceable battery
The ACM City One caused a sensation in Munich, with ACM standing for Adaptive City Mobility. Behind it is a Munich company that started in 2013 as a research project of the Federal Ministry of Economics. City One is the start-up's first car model. A small electric vehicle that is supposed to radically simplify electromobility. To do this, he relies on a battery system that consists of a permanently installed lithium-ion battery and also of replaceable batteries that look like small rolling suitcases. The exchangeable batteries can be charged at normal sockets. All batteries together give the Stromer a range of up to 240 kilometers. In 2023 the car could hit the market for around 10,000 euros.
Is that cheap or not?
A classic small car with a combustion engine is available for the same price.
Even the cheapest electric cars can be had for this amount of money, including the state purchase premium.
The fact that there is no comparable subsidy for very small e-vehicles has hindered their spread so far.
Apparently the legislature wants to change the situation.
This emerges from the draft of the Federal Ministry of Economics for a new funding guideline, which was presented to the German Press Agency on Monday.
The aim is to support the purchase of light vehicles with electric drives that require registration and which are used in city traffic, for example.
The agency did not name specific sums.
One day the Yoyo e-mini car from the Italian company XEV could benefit.
The minimobil is to be manufactured exclusively with the help of Chinese suppliers and externally strongly resembles a Smart from the very beginning.
In contrast, the hydrogen prototype SLRV (Safe Light Regional Vehicle) from the German Aerospace Center is spectacular, albeit not very suitable for everyday use.
The electric Isetta remake Microlino from the Swiss company Micro Mobility Solutions, the series version of which was shown at the IAA, is completely different.
The Swiss also showed the Microletta, a three-wheel electric scooter with a range of 100 kilometers.
E-tricycle with solar cells
The pick-up truck from the German-Tunisian company Bako-Motors also has three wheels.
One of the exotic at this IAA.
Company founder and CEO Boubaker Siala wants to conquer urban space with the solar cell electric transporter (name: Qorax - translated means the sun god).
The tricycle is designed for last-mile offers.
Three wheels should ensure the necessary agility of the e-van.
With the help of solar cells on the roof, the Qorax should travel 120 kilometers.
The vehicle will cost 4440 euros, as Siala tells SPIEGEL.
"Our car will be on the market at the end of 2022," he says.
Which models will soon be rolling through cities in large numbers will depend on how well they work in practice.
One thing is certain, however: there is actually no shortage of creative solutions for the space problem in the industry.