It’s a really interesting question: If automobiles had never been invented and we were making the first ones right now, what would the design look like? I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t look like Robert Hagenstrom’s answer, the Urban Flower vehicle, which he designed as if it were the initial automobile. It resembles a Segway crossed with an iron maiden. From Yankodesign: “Lanes, traffic lights, zebra crossings, standard parking lots, and the car itself would be replaced with compact, solar powered charging stations, and public personal vehicles available at the swipe of a credit card. The personal craft would navigate the streets much in the same way as a person on a crowded sidewalk; aware of surrounding objects, and in constant communication others around it, avoiding congestion as it navigates unique routes to its destination.”