The Folding Car That Will Change The Way We Park

When it comes to science and technology, Japanese can be daring and overly experimental. They have given the world some of the edgiest, timeless yet solution-based technology that has shaped a lot of the way we live. In the automotive industry, Japan is even more aggressive.

In the first quarter of 2018, Japanese tech-company Four Link Systems introduced to the world a car that can fold up and squeeze insignificantly small spaces. It had first been hinted about towards the end of 2017.

Named the “Earth 1,” the electric car designed by renowned designer Kunio Okawara, is one of a kind that might transform the way we park. Okawara is the man whose work in the TV series Gundam has distinguished him from typical artists and scientists. The series has made hundreds of episodes since the 1970s. One of its most outstanding characters are folding cars.

Don’t be misguided to think that this is just an impractical concept. The company announced earlier that it had 30 orders of the car. The price was tagged at $70,000.

Company CEO Hiroomi Kinoshita says that the company targets people who hardly buy cars
“Most of all we also wanted to figure out how to attract people who seldom purchase cars and encourage them to start driving a car. So we developed a vehicle which makes drivers feel as if they’re steering something that’s not a car…a robot-inspired shape that makes people feel like they are operating a robot while driving,” said Kinoshita.

Solution-based engineering has become an integral part of the automotive industries. Gone are the days when the car was a basic means of transport and nothing more and such revolutionary ideas will be counted on to light the way.