What is it about steering wheels lately that makes so many concept cars nervous?  This is the second time that I’ve seen a concept car refuse to use a steering wheel, but rather some other device.

Today we’re talking about the Peugeot BB1, a tiny, sprightly little runabout that uses handlebars instead of a steering wheel and offers room for three.

It’s actually almost more of an enclosed moped than it is a car, but in an urban environment, this tiny little dynamo is probably worth its weight in gold.  Of course, when I see a tiny little electric car like this, my first thought is, inevitably, how does it perform on snowy or icy roads?  When you’re getting drifts that’ll fill your shoes when you step in them, do you really want to be stuck in the super-green car that can’t bust a drift, or do you want hot throbbing gas engine love to burst you out of that bank?

But still…I look at these and I find myself at least impressed. Nice work, Peugeot.

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A lot of people out there don’t like the thought of having a big car payment every month, but the thought of getting around by bicycle is even less pleasant.  So for some people, places like ZipCar may be just the service they need.

For a hundred and twenty five bucks a year, and ten bucks an hour, you can “borrow” a car from ZipCar, or for other amounts of money in other locations you can perform a similar rental arrangement from one of the numerous other short term car rental establishments out there.

It’s not a bad idea, really, assuming you don’t mind driving a car numerous other people have driven before you and done who knows what in, as well as shuffling your schedule around to match the availability of the rentals.  That and figuring out how to get home from the rental place, because you just gave up a car.  But for urbanites, this might be a worthwhile solution that doesn’t require you to drive a moped like a fourteen year old.

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