For quite some time now, manufacturers have been focusing on this concept called the “last mile” – the idea that the final mile of a daily commute will have to be undertaken with something other than an automobile.
Driving this concern is the vehicle crackdown in urban centers, with cities like London, Paris, and others already creating congestion zones for their city centers, which all but outlaw the ability for one to commute via car into a downtown area.
Mass transit is surely filling this void, as are taxis, but we have also seen a shift towards two-wheeled solutions. That is where today’s story kicks in, as Ford is looking at its own city center solution, patenting a car concept that has a built-in motorcycle.
The US patents accordingly show some sort of electric motorcycle that is carried inside a car chassis.
Despite this intellectual property, Ford’s plans for its “batcycle” are unclear, and it should be noted that the American car-maker isn’t the first to float the concept. We should also say, patents certainly don’t show an intent to produce.
Of note too, Ford has recently been in the news for effectively killing off its car business, discontinuing its Fiesta, C-MAX, Focus, Fusion, and Taurus models, which leaves only the Mustang and the yet-to-be-released Focus Active to hold things down. Crazy times.
We are certainly doubtful that anything will come from Ford’s patent ideas, but it does show the folks in Michigan are looking at new ways to innovate in the people-moving business.
The transportation landscape is rapidly changing, and while Ford’s idea here seems a little silly, it is not unreasonable to think that creative solutions like this one will be common place in the coming years or decades.
Source: Autoweek
