ZF Unveils The Urban Concept Vehicle
If you follow the automotive world, you probably know who ZF is; its transmissions are found in a large array of vehicles, from Jeeps to BMWs to Bentleys. However, the company founded by Ferdinand Von Zeppelin in 1915 (you just learned something, didn’t you?) has multiple divisions, and its high-tech branch just presented a full-grown vehicle: the Smart Urban Vehicle Concept.
As its name implies, the car has been built to be as practical as possible in large cities. It is compact and has been fitted to integrate as much new technology as possible. For example, there is a steering box that can steer up to an angle of 75 degrees, which makes the car easy to park pretty much everywhere. And you don’t even need to park it yourself; it can fit into a space all by itself. You simply have to issue the command via your smartphone or watch.
Finally, its GPS has an interesting function that memorizes your regular trips and uses that information to modulate the resistance of its electric engine. With this technology, the concept can negotiate a turn without even using its brake.
The Smart Urban Vehicle probably won’t be produced (unless ZF is working on something we don’t know about), but we can bet that some of its technologies will find its way into other automakers' cars.