Yves Behar takes on transportation with a "People's Car"

From the designer of the One Laptop Per Child (also a cute and innovative green and white gadget), comes a new concept for global transportation. Yves Behar debuted his design for a people’s car at the recent Greener Gadgets Conference in New York. The vehicle is compact and optimized for a developing market in its price point, use, and adaptability as a multi-use vehicle (family car, van, transport vehicle, taxi, etc). While Behar (of San Francisco-based firm fuseproject) acknowledges that the concept is just that, a concept, in need of further development and business planning, the model is provocative.

A do-it-youself modification possibility, an electric engine that would require no power infrastructure, and a "hackable" computer-based system that would allow for multiple configurations as a portable generator. The tiny car might even be powered by solar panels someday. One fantastic design element is that the front and rear forms are symmetrical, making fabrication cheaper and more streamlined. In the same approach as the One Laptop Per Child, Behar believes that such a car could help developing markets "leapfrog" into a more productive economy and society.

Read more on Engadget, or visit fuseproject here.