Crazy, but I LOVE this kind of idea! Talk about a
make-over for the automobile industry. See:
http://www.ubergizmo.com/15/archives/2008/06/xp_vehicles_inflatable_cars.html
QUOTE:
"XP Vehicles has the bright idea of selling
inflatable cars to the masses, and these vehicles
will be powered by batteries or fuel cells. It
might sound as though it will be extremely
subsceptible to punctures, but apparently XP
Vehicles will be using the same material that
NASA uses in its airbags for Mars Rovers'
landings, which means you will be able to shrug
off pins and sharp objects on the road without
much worry. Since it is so light, it apparently
can travel for up to 2,500 miles on a single
charge. Assembly of this £2,500 package will take
around two hours on average, which ain't too
shabby. I wonder whether this will be able to
survive in an accident with another vehicle made
out of, you know, actual steel."
I saw this in an interesting article by Cringley
describing how Steve Jobs might run GM:
"Insanely Great: What if Steve Jobs ran one of the Big Three auto companies?"
http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/2008/pulpit_20081207_005508.html
More food for thought.
- Jed