If you’re a creature of conventional thinking, the whole EV revolution will likely soon boggle your mind like eating burgers for breakfast. Many of the parameters of typical car design imposed by internal combustion drivetrains will soon be out the window.
A few weeks back we dabbled a bit in the possibilities with the ‘Superfrunk’ gran turismo car with proportions and cargo space unheard of in fossil fuel powered vehicles.
Still, that was just scratching the surface. We need to look at more extreme possibilities, and if you want what-the-fuck-is-that semi-plausible concepts, I’m your guy.
Let’s not even start with ‘a car’ per say; let’s look at a ‘transportation system’(I know, that sounds boring as hell but I can assure it will NOT be). You see, while many of the Autopian staff cannot imagine life without at least ten cars to their name, the vast majority of the population can make do with far less.
With many people working from home and living in congested urban locations, the requirements for family transport for many seem to be:
-Often multiple drivers needing multiple cars, at least occasionally
-One of the cars will need to be able to make distance trips and trips with the whole family
-One of those cars will be used mainly for short, low speed local trips primarily with one person
-If they need more than two or even five seats, it will be on very rare occasions; however, they still need the option
-You’re lucky to get one assigned parking spot, or a single garage space
I personally transport myself and a briefcase (nothing else) to the office five or six days a week in a basically empty 3600 pound station wagon.
It’s almost as if you need a modular, Russian doll approach to your cars. I want one ‘big’ thing that fits in a sole parking spot or garage in Queens or Long Island and then splits into a smaller vehicle to take into Manhattan. Oh, and maybe something smaller to go the train station when I’m feeling lazy.
This is not a new challenge, and there have been proposed solutions before, but few have made sense. One particular failure was the 1990 Plymouth Voyager III. This sausage-shaped thing is actually made in two sections; the front is a small three-seat, four-cylinder runabout, but it hooks up to a rear section that adds two more rows of seats and another four cylinder engine to make an eight-seat, eight-cylinder van when joined together. Separated, the little car in front works fine, but the back module is now just a big immobile box with a gaping hole on one end- what are you supposed to do with that shit? You can see why this idea went nowhere.
source: 95 octane
What could work? A possible idea came to me when looking at, of all things, a picture of how two dummies transported a $1200 Chinese golf cart in the back of a 1985 version of a 1963 truck.
source: Jalopnik
Here’s another picture from of one of those dummies with the unboxed little car in a larger, more contemporary pickup bed:
source: Jason Torchinsky
If this car-within-a-truck thing sort of worked here, would it be feasible for a modern EV? I think so, but remember that you’re talking to a guy who just did an Airstream car concept with a toilet in it and a van for three-foot-diameter currency.
First, we’ll need a primary vehicle, and for shits and grins let’s just choose a Rivian since it’s an interesting design, and unlike the Cybertruck it actually exists. Also, the Rivian has height adjustable suspension, which will come into play later.
source: wikipedia
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Like most four door trucks, the bed of the Rivian is pretty damn short; at 54 inches, it’s not nearly long enough for any kind of car to fit (a Smart Fortwo is 100 inches long). However, we don’t have to give up yet, since there are a number of solutions from the not-so-distant past to this issue.
In 2012, a Spanish company created a car based on an MIT design called the Hiriko with wheels and motor at back that could slide to change the shape of the car from 100 inches long to a skinny, tall format only 59 inches in length. You can read more about this interesting experiment but the end result was just a few cars being built and the developers accused of fraud.
‘Our’ car would be a small Smart-type two seater with a front opening Isetta-style door (and folding steering column) that would stow in the bed of the Rivian pickup. This little car, with the sickeningly cute name Riv-It, would not contort in such a severe way as the Hiriko, but the rear wheels and motor would telescopically extend out the back of the car to give it a more drivable wheelbase.
source: Rivian and The Bishop
source: Cars and Bids and The Bishop
Because the wheels need to slide back in to park in the bed of the Rivian, [Editor’s Note: It looks like it would also take up part of the Rivian’s gear tunnel, but this may be an acceptable compromise, considering that there’s still a big frunk – JT] you really couldn’t have a permanent cargo trunk in back of the little car, but there could be a collapsible thing on back that would hold soft cargo bags or detachable hard cases for you to remove and carry into your house (or, worst case, toss in the back of the Rivian or in the passenger compartment of the Riv-It).
source: The Bishop
Driving your Riv-It into the bed of the Rivian seems like a daunting task, but it’s one you don’t have to do. You would pull up to the back of your Rivan, hop out, hit ‘Park & Load’ on the screen or your phone and walk away. Ramps would slide out electrically from the bed, move into position, and the Riv-It would drive itself into place, even hooking up to recharge.
source: Rivian and The Bishop
There are recesses in the bed floor for the wheels to allow the Riv-It to sit as low as possible and fit below the magic seven foot height standard for garage door openings (with the Rivian set to lowest suspension height). Sadly, I would need to modify the back of the bed area and use the space currently allotted on the Rivian for that cool ‘pass thru’ cargo tunnel behind the rear seat for even the telescoped-in wheels to fit (but maybe it could be useable when the little car was not in place?).
Could you actually drive your Rivian with the Riv-It in place? Of course. You’re adding the 1000 pounds of the little car but honestly with electric power your range will drop but performance will still be great. I’ve added roof rails with a high intensity light bar at the front to help to visually blend the car in back into the shape and not look like the Popemobile as it would without. Possibly the roof rails could fold down for when the Riv-It is not being carried. Also, since it would be locked into place in the bed you could stuff it with cargo or even two more backwards-facing passengers to give you a three row SUV.
source: Rivian and The Bishop
I would dearly love to have the passengers facing forwards and looking out over the roof of the front like in an old Scenicruiser bus, but there just isn’t enough room unless the bed were longer, and then you’d have to get in from the sides of the Riv-It (say steps where the pass thru tunnel is).
source: Curbside Classic
So what if you live in a nice climate and don’t need another car, just some kind of bike or scooter to get around? Rivian could have you covered there as well. Remember the Motocompo, the tiny foldable motorbike that Honda offered in the early eighties to fit in the back of their City hatchback?
source: Bring A Trailer
Here is a scribble of the Rivian collapsible scooter, doubling down on the cutesy name thing and calling it the Rivvy. This collapsible electric bike would be able to fit into the famous ‘pass thru’ gear ‘tunnel’ in the Rivian. The Motocompo was likely HEAVY to lift, but the Rivvy would not only be made from lighter materials, but the battery pack could be detached and loaded separately to break up the weight.
source: Motorbiscuit and The Bishop
I only wish that I could squish the length of the little car down more so that the Riv-It and Rivvy could both fit in a Rivian at the same time.
BUT WAIT! If we could just extend the wheelbase of the Rivian by less than a foot, we could get the Rivvy to fit behind the Riv-It and maybe even attach to the back of Riv-It to give you all of the options you could want (drive Rivian to your destination, switch to Riv-It for better parking options, then take the Rivvy where cars cannot go).
source: Rivian and The Bishop
Now all of your transportation needs are met, unless you are an Autopian staffer. For that, I’d have to find a way to fit ten old Jeeps or three Smart cars in one parking space. I guess there are Carvana towers available for that?
There’s really no need for ramps.
Make the rear gate of the pickup stronger, then put a winch in each of the Riv-it’s wheel hubs and let it hoist itself up and lower itself down on two cables or even a flexible cog strap (like a tank tread) built into the bed of the truck that could also serve as tie-down points when not carrying the Riv-it. If using cables, they would be pulled by the Riv-it but cog straps would probably need to be pulled from the other end by a mechanism in the truck.
Ramps are for the comfort of the occupants, and there’s no real need for anyone to be in the Riv-it when it loads and unloads.
I was always though of this as an escape pod for a Suburban. Get into a head on collision, you have enough time to get to the back, blow the door, and YEET yourself out of harms way.
I’m gonna repeat what others have said – I’d buy this as a standalone product. It’s so darn adorable; the same Rivian design language that makes a massive pickup look friendlier serves to make this thing look like a 2000s-era robot buddy from a kids’ show.
Plus if you took the same approach as the Commuter Cars Tango (that ridiculous thing) you could make it quite the sleeper.
I… kinda… love it. Maybe. Kinda.
I would imagine that carrying a whole-ass car around all the time would do terrible things to the EV’s range.
Unfortunately I don’t think carrying around a spare car will catch on but that seems like the perfect way to modify a Rivian to make it capable of transporting people in motorized wheelchairs or other bulky mobility devices.
A nice thought experiment, but designers should also always try to make simple solutions.
So just stuff a foldable electric bicycle or two into the belly compartment (I forgot what it’s called…) of the Rivian. And you can sit on the bed and drink organic beers.
(Yes, I live a place where people actually use bicycles as an ordinary mode of transport)
– Also, with the tall rear side window (of the Rivit) and those quite useless roof bars mostly for looks, you have reinvented the Matra Rancho 😀
– So your next thought up aternate retro future assignment could be: “What if the Rancho’s rear part was actually one of those small french cubistic granny moped cars?”
(and which would have the worst sounding engine?)
OMG, the French-born genius Raymond Loewy, the father of ‘streamlining’ and modern industrial design (and designer of the above Greyhound Scenicruiser, the Coca-Cola vending machine and bottle, the Studebaker Champion and Avanti, the Air Force One color livery, the interior of NASA’s Skylab and countless other icons of Americana) is spinning in his grave!
Automobiliaobsessive- that’s the desired effect, my man! By the way, Bob Bourke is the guy that really designed the ’53 Champion. Mr. Design Genius was apparently rarely even around.
Hey, thanks for the heads up on Bob Bourke! I hate it when the ‘real’ artists don’t get credit for their work.
I know you apparently prefer incognito, however, since The Autopian principals (well one presently, soon two) are based in LA area, perhaps, since you are a bona fide automotive designer, you could open some doors and get DT and JT into the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena and other OEM design houses for some interesting interviews and backgrounds for future stories. I certainly understand corporate security on future designs, but there are many colorful people in the biz out there that would make for interesting reading by us mere mortals.
BTW, love these glorious lampoons! Keep up the good work!
Automobiliaobsessive- glad you like the work! I am NOT an automotive designer (as I would think these crazy-assed concepts prove), and I graduated from Art Center’s evil rival, The College of Creative Studies in Detroit, but I do have a friend that teaches in the Pasadena school that might be able to hook them up!
I suspect Tracy’s rigged up a generator to Loewy’s corpse and that’s how the Autopian gets their electricity.
So – the perfect accessory for when you need two droids to escape your pickup truck with stolen Death Star plans?
Donkeyshins- and another could escape on the Rivvy scooter…but which has the plans and which is the decoy?
On a more practical note. Turn that into a range extending trailer, with additional batteries, solar panels and emergency generator. Haul it, tow it, or leave it at home when you don’t need it.
Some day when parts of the world are unlivable certain parts of the season. people will need to be nomadic. Those daisy chain vehicles would be ideal for future living.
1. Full drop rear bumper – do it when tailgate folds down 180 degrees. Gets tailgate out of the way for load/unload. See work Utes in AUS for details.
2. Steep Angle Train tooth drive or else a winch. Makes it easier to get it up/down without risk. Guide rails to get it up
3. Tailgate 90 degree position (folded flat) or else extended straight back on guide rails for a closed look but extra bed length when loaded with the vehicle.
4. Extendable/collapsible wheelbase makes it easier to do short loading ramps (need large breakover), combined with #1 above can fit a higher speed stable vehicle in the short wheelbase space.
Honestly I love this. I think the Riv-it needs to have some UTV style offroad chops. You get to where you don’t want to take the truck, and the nimble Riv-it takes you the rest of the way. Secluded fishing hole, backcountry ski spot or off the beaten path to bury the evidence. Please include folding shovel bumper feature.
Can we buy the Riv-It separately or does it only come with the purchase of a R1-T?
10001010- I would hope it could be bought separately. On ‘my’ side of our garage I could fit the squished-up Riv-It and still have room in front for my current car. Or, better yet, since I would now have a commuter car, more space for a true Autopian car (i.e. cool but barely runs).
I feel this is an awesome first step toward Ark II. But is there a place to store a jetpack?
Jack- maybe on the roof rack in front. But that would block the damn sunroof
I like the Rivvy but would take it an extra step: when you buy it, you get a module that slots into the gear tunnel like the kitchen does but provides a slide out ramp system and charge slot that is automatic. Dock the bike, push a button and it stows and starts charging automatically. Auto deployment too. Loading is for peasants.
Loudog- yes, but if you don’t pay the monthly subscription fee then the Rivvy is stuck in there until you do. Sorry.
“we’re a *mobility* company. That means ‘pony up’!”
“I guess there are Carvana towers available for that?”
We should all keep an eye out, since those towers will probably start coming up for sale.
You just stumbled on a way to save Carvana. They should sell/build/license consumer car towers. It would be a great way to have a sky high penthouse with plenty of car storage. The downside is that it could be hard to hide from the neighbors if they can see that all of your cars are at home but you are not answering your video doorbell system.
I’m all about the Rivvy Pitbike. I feel like you should patent that name soon.
I really like how the rails make it all look so cohesive. I don’t need this, but I kind of need it.
Drew- yes the rails are meant to remove some of the Popemobile vibe when they’re up; when the Riv-It is gone they look sorta silly so would like to see if I can find a way to simply fold them down when they aren’t needed (without adding more motors and such).
Hinge them along the edges and fold them to the center of the truck. They would obscure the moonroof when down, if it has one, but could also serve as a gear rack in either position.
As a former industrial designer on the Rivian team, this post has really made me smile.
MittensID- I hope your team threw some crazy, semi-feasible shit like this at the wall!
oh yeah, there is no lack of brainstorming fun ideas in that studio. I obviously cant go into detail, but these sketches brought back some great memories
Gotta admit, this is not the direction I expected you to go with this. I was imagining something more like an extension-leaf table.
What about a standard cab with a longer bed and a 4-seater pod? I don’t know if that would be doable, but it might increase both pickup utility and car utility for certain subsets of buyers.
Drew- absolutely, a longer bed would make things much easier. But I really wanted to keep it as small as possible. We have an apartment we rent out in the city and the designated parking space would BARELY fit a standard Rivian, so I wanted to keep urban dwellers in mind.
Drew- actually, maybe a longer bed and a smaller cabin with jump seats might be better? But your idea of having the escape pod bigger AND be part of the main passenger compartment when in place is very compelling.
Oh, I didn’t really think of a classic extended cab with the jump seats. You could still have more space than a single bench seat in the cab, plus you could have a little more room in the pod. That might be ideal, given how people actually use pickups.
This would do very well for people who go to campgrounds, since a lot of people’s idea of camping is apparently to use their legs as little as possible for a week or two. A lot easier than moving a golf cart up and down some saggy plywood ramps
A folding electric scooter would fit in the gear tunnel better than any bike. Light, even with batteries, and very compact.
My old boss, a collector of micro cars, could drive his Isetta into the bed of his Tundra to take it to shows and meets. I know it sounds like a ‘princess’ move but we once drove it to a show and in addition to taking fooooreevvvver to get there it was the scariest drive of my life, doing 35mph on 6 lane suburban roads filled with SUVs and pickups in what amounted to a ball of tinfoil wrapped around half a BMW bike engine. Note that you need three ramps to get up into the bed due to the wheel positions, and you have to gun it and commit to get it all the way up and in. If I can dig up a photo I’ll post it, we got a lot of thumbs up piggybacking the Isetta.
It’s a fairly standard way of transporting microcars that aren’t capable of sustained highway speeds. I took along my American Microcar Tri-Ped in the bed of my International while competing in the inaugural Lemons Rally in 2016 so I could then enter it in the Concours d’Lemons at the end of the rally. It’s not as crowd-pleasing as an Isetta, though.
https://live.staticflickr.com/8824/28922354940_e177771927_b.jpg
You can fit a decent sized UTV in an 8 foot bed and still close the tailgate. There’s no reason to limit yourself to the toy sized beds of the Rivian et al.
I would pay good money for the “load itself” feature though, the drive up those ramps is not for the faint of heart.
At least the load-it feature would mean no one would be screaming ‘Why did you turn??!’ at their girlfriend.
I really hope that poor gal in the ‘Why did you turn’ video left that douchebag immediately.
TOSSABL- honestly I think it might be humanly impossible for anyone to park that thing in the bed without self-driving assistance.