GM Invents the Future? Say Goodbye to Your Car, and Hello to the EN-V

Grab your towel, and let the green washing begin! This year's World Expo in Shanghai bears the motto "Better City, Better Life" and is inspiring everyone to jump on board the green band wagon. Yet not far behind the green washers, are the dreamers, sharing their fantasies for a greener future. And sometimes... it's a fine line between the two.

View & Vote: The Electric Cars Driving the Future

Those were my parting thoughts after experiencing [url='http://en.expo2010.cn/c/en_qy_tpl_47.htm#gk']GM's presentation at the World Expo . At a time when visions for new eco cities are the only hope for the future, and new smart grids are in high demand, GM releases their vision for 2030. With no time to lose: According to the McKinsey Global Institute, "350 million [people] will be added to China's urban population by 2025 (more than the present population of the United States) and 221 Chinese cities will have 1 million-plus living in them (Europe has 35 today). GM predicts that by 2030 there will be 1.2 billion cars on our planet, and that 1/3 of the fuel consumed in China by vehicles is searching for parking. China's urban migration problem is calling in people from around the world to solve one of the planet's most fascinating and complex over population problems.

Enter stage left, GM. Their proposal for the future eliminates the car as we know it and introduces a new system where the driver is all but passive observer. Meet the EN-V, (short for Electric Networked-Vehicle). As you prepare to watch their feature presentation, you walk down a corridor preparing you with the following facts:

"50 million are injured in accidents globally"

"China loses over 300 billion yuan to traffic jams"

"Every 30 seconds there is a traffic accident somewhere in the world"

"China has 480K traffic accidents due to traffic violations each year"

And then come the promises for their vision of a new form of transportation:

"Free from congestion through connectivity"

"Autonomous driving"

"No traffic lights"

"Automobiles will move smoothly like fish in the se"a

"You will gain 3 new days of free time each month"

And then more promises, 20 years in the future, we will live free from petroleum, free of emission, congestion, accidents, and transportation will bring us together 2030.

The main presentation what this four-dimensional movie~ we had to buckle into the chairs that moved according to the film's plot.

The 12 minute film was followed by this performance of people dancing with the "pods".

GM is striving to make China's cities "cleaner and greener", and introducing a new form of mobility that won't clog the streets, that you can park on your balcony, and that doesn't require your attention to drive. Their marketing technique associates freedom of mobility to freedom of the heart to express itself and plays with the metaphor that breaking the boundaries of love, is akin to breaking the boundaries of a polluted society.

Their promise: to create a new freedom of mobility, where children can be put into a pod and sent to the playground, where blind people can drive, and where, apparently, the roads are clear enough so that you can connect with your most beloved (meanwhile, I can't help but note that the film doesn't make it look like there is an over population problem).

Marketing is a funny thing~ they like to tell us we're broken, and they can fix it. I want to be open to this kind of radical thinking, but when they start telling me that their new "pod" will allow me to focus on more important things like checking my smart phone and reading magazines, the hair on the back of my neck rise. While I am waiting with baited breath to be introduced to the new system that will create a way for an over populated society to thrive and not just fight to survive, I can