Living out of your car is never at the top of list when it comes to accommodations, but with the rising tide of micro apartments and hotels, we can perhaps expect to see a growing industry of automobile housing. This is exactly what American designer John Salerno had in mind when he created the ‘Habitat’ micro-home.
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The main component of Habitat is a 100 square foot cubic pod that is designed to house a bed, a table, a kitchen and a storage space. The apartment is powered by solar panels and an unspecified source of wind power. It relies on an array of fuel cells to store the generated electricity. Significantly the pod contains no bathroom although plumbing is available for the kitchen.
The second component of Habitat is an electric car that docks below the pod. Although it is not clear what kind of vehicle the design calls for, it will be 32 square feet and will have seats that turn towards each other to create a small living room. This will create a 132 square feet multi-level home.
The most interesting aspect of the design is that the power stored by the pod can be passed to the electric vehicle and vice-versa which will create a shared resource or electric power. The most obvious example is that surplus energy created by the pod can be used to charge the car.
It is not clear whether this car-mini-home will be a viable choice for cash-strapped consumers. Additionally, the lack of a bathroom will probably not make this a real housing solution. The idea of sharing electricity between the car and the mini-home, however, might turn out to have more longevity that this specific design.
Credit: Jon Salerno
Tags: Concept Cars, Electric Cars, Electric Vehicles, Fuel Cells, Hybrid Cars
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