Rotates 360 degrees

By Melanie Doherty

In 2007, the futurists at Nissan’s Advanced Vehicle Engineering Department created the Nissan Pivo 2, a concept car that rotates 360 degrees. This car was first released on October 5, 2007 in Tokyo by Nissan Motor Co. Ltd and showed off its unique bubble cabin design. The Pivo 2 is powered by a lithium-ion battery making it environmentally friendly. The car offers three seats and the cabin rotates 360 degrees, eliminating the need to reverse. Instead of regular car wheels this concept car has rotating pods allowing the car to drive in any direction. The wheels and cabin allow you to easily pull in sideways to a parking spot instead of Parallel Park. The Pivo 2 also features Nissan’s Around View Monitor system, which eliminates blind spots by showing outside surroundings on screens inside the vehicle. A Robotic Agent allows drivers to talk to their car in English or Japanese and control the radio or find nearby parking. In 2011, the newer Pivo 3 was unveiled featuring Nissan’s Automated Valet Parking, allowing the car to park itself and recharge itself while parked at specially-equipped parking lots. The new Pivo 3 can be remotely maneuvered by a smartphone.