No, this is not a photo of a mini-submarine or an escape pod for the space shuttle.  It's the Pivo 2, an environmentally-friendly electric concept car from Nissan.  Not a fan of the techno-bubble appearance of the Pivo 2?  Then maybe the technology will make you a convert...

The Pivo 2 is powered by advanced compact Lithium-ion batteries.  That means no gas in this car unless you hit a Taco Bell on the way home from work!

The entire cabin can rotate 360 degrees.  Now instead of flipping people off over your shoulder you can spin around and make all sorts of elaborate gestures!

Each wheel has an independent electric motor and can turn 90 degrees.  That means the car can drive perfectly sideways.  No more see-sawing into parking spaces!

A cute little personal robot plugs into the dash R2D2-style (if you look closely at the photo you can see him peeking through the windshield).  This little guy can read your e-mail, take phone messages, and help you navigate to your destination.

The look of this type of concept isn't going to appeal to a lot of North Americans, but the reality is that if we want more efficient vehicles that use less resources then cars like the Nissan Pivo 2 are likely in our future.

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