How many times have you searched in vain for parking in the city, passing and repassing along a street where you hoped to be able to find a free place to leave your car, perhaps coming across a space that was too narrow to park. A reality shared by many and which may have been resolved by Lakota, the innovative folding electric car that comes from Spain and aims to conquer the streets of large urban centers thanks to its practicality. The micro car of NTD Energy it can in fact easily reduce its overall dimensions, up to one metre, with the entrance from the front tailgate which allows the car to be left parked even in the narrowest spaces.
The project started long ago, with a first prototype presented in 2012, Hiriko which had drawn inspiration from a mobility study carried out by researchers of the MIT Media Lab who have worked to offer innovative solutions precisely for parking problems in the most congested cities. The start-up NTD Energy obtained its project to be financed within the Future Fast Forward program led by Seat and it was approved by the Ministry of Industry Iberian. The idea is to start mass production, with the opening of a hub in the Navarre region that can offer work to 100 employees with a rate of around 1,200 Lakota specimens a year starting from 2023. However, the goal is significantly more ambitious and aims for a total of 6,000 units by 2026. The Spanish folding electric has a weight of only 580 kg and rests on a versatile platform that allows “Omnisteering” maneuvers so as not to engage reverse gear, also allowing lateral movements up to at 60°.
The electric motor will offer a maximum speed of 90 km/h, with the possibility of recharging with rapid infrastructure recovering from 20 to 100% in just 15 minutes. However, no further details regarding the battery and powertrain were provided. The potential target will be that of shared mobility, with sharing companies and companies that could implement Lakota in their fleets but it cannot be excluded that NTD Energy does not want to target private individuals as well.
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