Meet the “foldable” urban EV about to debut as emergency response vehicle

Israeli technology start-up City Transformer has developed what it describes as “the world’s first ultra-compact electric vehicle for smart cities” that is not only small, but is also “foldable”.

It will soon make its debut as part of emergency medical response organisation United Hatzalah’s fleet of vehicles.

Founded in 2014 with the idea of designing an electric vehicle (EV) that could change its width while driving, City Transformer is aiming to address urban traffic and parking issues by designing and developing an alternative to the car as the only current form of urban mobility.

According to City Transformer, drivers in New York and Paris spend on average 230 hours searching for parking per year, while drivers in London spend as many as 270 hours.

Further, over 50% of space in European cities is occupied by cars which, unsurprisingly, results in EU urban mobility accounting for 40% of all CO2 emissions and 70% of other pollutants.

That’s where the City Transformer comes in, with an ability to shrink from 1.4-metres in width to only 1-metre while driving. (See this video here).

The City Transformer consists of only 1,500 parts – as compared to up to 25,000 parts in traditional vehicles – and will boast a top speed of 90km/h when unfolded and up to 40km/h when folded. It will have a range of 180-kilometres and is ble to accelerate from 0-50km/h in 5 seconds.

Currently available for pre-order in Europe for a pre-order special of €12,500 ($A20,000), the City Transformer will likely go on sale at some point in time with a price tag of €16,000 ($A25,000).

First, though, the City Transformer will join the fleet of Israeli emergency medical response organization United Hatzalah, a volunteer-based organisation designed to provide immediate medical intervention during the critical window between an emergency and the arrival of a traditional ambulance.

United Hatzalah’s fleet of emergency vehicles are currently made up of motorcycles – which means the organisation can provide an average response time of less than 3 minutes across Israel, and 90 seconds in metropolitan areas – but a new deal with City Transformer will help to expand the organisation’s fleet to include the CT-1.

“More than 4 billion people currently live in urban areas, in cities, and that will only increase in the coming years,” said Asaf Formoza, City Transformer CEO, speaking to The Times of Israel recently. “People need vehicles for city centres, for narrow streets, for tomorrow’s world.”

As for United Hatzalah, they’ve been keeping their eye on the City Transformer as a means to increase the viability of their services.

“We approached this from two angles,” said Dov Maisel, the vice president of operations for United Hatzalah, also speaking to The Times of Israel.

“First, the safety of our volunteers and riders. And second, the innovation component. We invented the motorcycle ambulance, and it’s clear why — they can go through traffic easily, for example — but that limits us because not all volunteers have motorcycles licenses or want to be on a motorcycle.”

The City Transformer has also been designed with car sharing in mind, which would also play a significant role in making the car a viable alternative for United Hatzalah volunteers.

About 1,000 City Transformer CT-1 units will be placed in various cities across Israel, allowing United Hatzalah’s network of volunteers the ability to quickly locate the nearest vehicle so as to be able to respond to medical emergencies in their vicinity.

The United Hatzalah fleet of CT-1 units will be paired with an app service for the organisation’s volunteers, allowing them to unlock and operate the vehicle with the address of the emergency already pre-entered into the vehicle’s navigation software.