A bus that dynamically changes size is one way to think about Kiwee’s two-person vehicles. These electric vehicles are designed to be coupled to improve throughput in denser areas and then go there own way to the less dense areas where there typically wouldn’t be bus coverage. From a rider perspective, the experience is similar to a car-sharing service.
From a logistics perspective, it is somewhat analogous to the grocery store where people leave their shopping carts scattered in a parking lot and a grocery store employee stacks them together and hauls them to a central pick-up point at the store entrance. Up to eight vehicles, which correspond to the length of one bus, can share a common charge point. The combined road train can be driven by a single operator so that pick-up points are always fully stocked (90% availability).
Co-designed by Liten with the cooperation of List, CEA institutes, and other European partners (under the H2020 EC Research Program), the target for this mini-mobility solution is 100 European cities where more than 5,000 of these vehicles per year could be deployed. The developers estimate at least 30 minutes of time savings compared to public transportation in suburban destinations.
They anticipate their first large scale deployment in 2022 with a go-to-market in Europe of 2023.
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