People Might Be Able to Rent & Drive ‘Tiny Cars’ for $2 from MRT Station to Home from 2021

Are you a lazy person?

Do you believe legs should be used solely for shaking purposes?

Do you sigh for an alarmingly long time whenever you get off the MRT and realise you still have to walk 1km to your house?

If your answer to all three questions was yes, you should definitely see a doctor because your lack of concern for your health is concerning.

But if you’re determined to be a lazy person for the rest of your days, you’ll probably be a fan of QIQ Global’s new initiative.

People Might Be Able to Rent & Drive ‘Tiny Cars’ from MRT Station to Home from 2021

The trip home from the MRT station might be a little easier from 2021 as commuters may be able to use tiny shared electric vehicles.

Singapore firm QIQ Global plans to launch the electric microcars for hire, called the QIQ Pod, next year.

The small cars are just 2.4m long and 1m wide, and can seat two people. They look like the kind of cars smurfs would drive.

Will Start in Punggol

You might be lucky enough to live 2 minutes away from the nearest MRT station, but many residents in Punggol don’t have this luxury, said QIQ Global chief executive and co-founder Justin Sim.

“For a lot of the residents in Punggol, they are still required to take a feeder service or to walk a long distance to reach the LRT (Light Rail Transit) station”, he said.

Sim added that there was still “a lot of inefficiency” in the town’s public transport network.

If everything goes according to plan, Sim plans to introduce between 300 and 600 microcars in Punggol next year.

Can Park by Itself

Parking a car this tiny may not present any difficulties to most drivers, but if you’re too lazy to do so, the car can park itself.

According to CNA,  QIQ Global plans to design their microcars to be able to autonomously park themselves at the nearest charging station.

“It’s so easy to drive you don’t even need to learn how to park the car”, Sim said.

“When you end the ride, you leave it by the curbside and it will park by itself.”

Moreover, in a bid to cut down on manpower, it aims to utilise a method called platooning, where one human-driven car will lead a group of driverless cars using wireless communications.

Cost

So, how much does it cost?

Sim said the QIQ Pod would likely cost S$2 for a 30 minute ride, and between S$30 and S$50 monthly to use the microcar multiple times every day.

The microcar can also be used for logistic purposes, but users would have to pay a monthly fee of around S$180 to S$240.

You won’t be allowed to hog these microcars, either, because each car will be equipped with GPS or radio frequency identification technology to create a virtual geographic boundary.

This ensures that the vehicles are only used for short trips.

Similar Microcar Was Not Approved in 2014

In 2014, Renault planned to launch a similar microcar in Singapore called the Renault Twizy, which was a hybrid of a car and a motorcycle.

It wasn’t approved, however, as it didn’t fit into any existing vehicle classification, and was too heavy to be approved as a motorcycle.

Despite this, Sim is “pretty confident” that the QIQ Pod will get approved, considering it’s much lighter and slower than the Twizzy.

“Actually we have a lot to thank the Renault Twizy for,” he said.

But will users really pay an unnecessary $2 every day just so they don’t have to walk or take a bus home?

Reader: You underestimate our laziness, dear writer