Automotive

Rinspeed's MetroSnap vehicle can be a post office or a corner store

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The newly revealed MetroSnap follows the original Rinspeed Snap and last year’s downsized MicroSNAP
Rinspeed
Swiss automotive design shop Rinspeed has again readied forward-focused vehicle concept for next month’s CES
Rinspeed
The newly revealed MetroSnap follows the original Rinspeed Snap and last year’s downsized MicroSNAP
Rinspeed
The latest modular pod concept from Rinspeed is again presented via a set of renders
Rinspeed
Rinspeed will give its MetroSnap concept a proper premiere at CES next month
Rinspeed
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Swiss automotive design shop Rinspeed has readied a forward-focused vehicle concept that can be split into two for next month’s CES. The modular Rinspeed MetroSnap builds on similar concepts from previous years and places a big emphasis on convenience, with the ability to become a corner store, a local postal office or really anything its owners might care to imagine.

The newly revealed MetroSnap follows the original Rinspeed Snap and last year’s downsized MicroSNAP as another two-piece electric vehicle built to come apart when it matters. This means a detachable pod rides atop a skateboard chassis and can be removed, upgraded or replaced as needed.

Originally, the idea behind these concepts was to offer owners some freedom in how they use their vehicles, with the ability to fit it out with different types of pods. The 2020 edition carries on with this theme and features an upgraded changeover system allowing for pod swaps to take place in just seconds.

Swiss automotive design shop Rinspeed has again readied forward-focused vehicle concept for next month’s CES
Rinspeed

As Rinspeed sees it, these pods could be a parcel station for folks to drop off or pickup goods, or perhaps a health food store. These could not only be driven to a neighborhood and parked there, but with the fancy new swapping mechanism the pods could be pulled off and left on the street corner for an afternoon and then picked up by the chassis once its purpose has been served.

The latest modular pod concept from Rinspeed is again presented via a set of renders, but the company insists that “the crucial step towards series production has now been taken.” In any case, Rinspeed is set to give it a proper premiere at CES in Las Vegas, which kicks off on January 7, 2020.

Source: Rinspeed

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2 comments
paul314
If this weren't just so much renderware, I'd love to be able to swap the passenger compartment of my car for a truck bed every now and then. I wonder whether they're planning height-appropriate loading docks.
MQ
Very straightforward, taking a leaf from Air transport... Shaping the pod like an Air-Box then allows immediate market access both for the modules, and for distribution via automated vending models (Vendong machines and replenishment modules, flat-pack for backhaiul, Circular economy here we come.. (There has to be a flaw in the model somewhere)