As cities continue to grow at a dizzying rate, commuters are constantly battling ever-increasing congestion¹ on the roads and a lack of parking, just to get to work.

随着城市正以惊人的速度发展，通勤党们也越来越受困于上班路上的堵车以及停车位不足等问题。

But now a team of German engineers have come up with an ingenious solution -- a "flexible" electric vehicle capable of shrinking, driving sideways (think like a crab) and turning on a dime².

但是现在德国一个工程师团队想出了巧妙的解决办法——一种“灵活的”电动汽车。它能够伸缩，能够横着开（就像螃蟹那样），还能够在极小的空间中转弯。

The EO Smart Connecting Car 2 is an innovative³ design from DFKI Robotics Innovation Center, based in Bremen, Germany, where a team of software developers and designers, as well as electronics and construction engineers, have been refining the smart micro car project for the last three years.

这款EO Smart Connecting 2电动汽车是由德国不来梅机器人技术创新中心研发的，该团队由软件开发者、设计师、电子和结构工程师组成，他们最近三年都在改进这款智能微型车。

First announced in 2012, the team have moved onto their second iteration of the vehicle.

这款电动汽车首次发布于2012年，之后团队发布了它的最新版本。

It drives like a traditional car but because each wheel is powered by its own motor, it also has the capability⁴ of driving sideways, allowing it to slide into tight spaces in urban areas where parking is limited, explains Timo Birnschein, project manager for the vehicle.

项目经理提莫·比尔施海因解释称，平时它就像传统汽车那样行驶，但是因为四个轮子是由自有马达驱动的，所以它具有横向行驶的功能，这样就能在城市停车空间有限的情况下滑进停车位。

He adds: "The whole process -- the transition between normal driving and driving sideways -- takes about four seconds."

他补充说道：“整个过程--从普通行驶模式到横向行驶模式--只需要四秒钟。”

The prototype has a top speed of 65 km/h and can travel 50 to 70 kilometers (30 to 44 miles) on a single four-hour full charge of the battery.

这款电动汽车最高时速为65千米/每小时，单块电池在充满电的情况下可以坚持四个小时，行驶50-70公里。

But it's the two-seater's ability to shrink to around 1.5 meters in length that has the team excited about its uses in future cities, says Birnschien.

比尔施海因表示，这款两座车可以缩小到1.5米左右，团队对其在未来城市的用途很期待。

"It is able to reduce its own size by about 80cm, which makes it almost as small as a bike in length. And with this kind of feature you can go into very tiny parking spaces," he says. "You are still able to turn on the spot, you are still able to drive sideways and you are still able to connect to charging stations, for example."

“它能够将自身的大小缩小80厘米，这样就跟一架自行车一样大了。这个功能可以让你开进很小的停车位里。”他说，“比如，你还可以当场转弯、横向行驶以及将车连接到充电站。”