Frank Rinderknecht, founder and driving force behind Swiss automotive design studio Rinspeed, has been around some, and one of the things he's learned is to travel light or, as he put it:

“You're not going to take your steamer trunk as if you were going on a lengthy vacation if all you want to do is a little shopping at your local supermarket!”

Now he's taken that sensible principle a big step further with the Rinspeed Dock+Go, with either two or three axles depending on the needs of the day, which will be the centrepiece of the Rinspeed display at the upcoming Geneva motor show.

This truly modular concept is based on a battery-powered Smart Fortwo , together with a range of single-axle 'backpacks on wheels' - and that, says Rinderknecht, solves the much-debated operating range problem that stymies electric-vehicle development, with “mobility à la carte”.

Different 'packs' can turn the electric two-seater into the dream car of every pizza delivery driver - complete with a built-in isothermal box. Or give winter-sports enthusiasts space to stow their gear.

INSTANT PARTY

For Geneva the concept will even have a rolling 'sound pack' built by Harman Kardon with the latest sound equipment to guarantee an instant party wherever you park it!

But the most important 'backpack' is the energy pack, with either extra batteries, a fuel cell or even a small combustion engine. The docked third axle, says Rinderknecht, drives the rotating second axle and so recharges the Smart's own batteries.

He calls it the Variohybrid - and when the pack with auxiliary batteries is docked and the vehicle is not in use, the pack will even provide electricity to the owner's home or serve as a buffer for the domestic grid.

Rinderknecht believes that a futuristic car has to look special too - hence the silver outer skin from AkzoNobel that looks like sparkling ice crystals, and the 17” low-rolling-resistance tires mounted on AEZ rims with decorative silver covers, lock on to red fasteners with rubber bands!

GLOWS IN THE DARK

The Lumitec chrome-blue accent striping on either side glows in the dark and the MBtech 'Identiface' display that replaces the grille (redundant on a battery car anyway) uses the car's internet connectivity to display anything from the owner's Facebook pages to his (or your) business' advertisements - or even the offer of a ride to wherever the driver is going.

The interior is trimmed in black and red, using high-tech yarns with high wicking capacity, woven into supple, feel-good fabric that's warm in winter and cool in summer.

The 'hard trim' surfaces are finished with synthetic leather, with a transparent roof and distinctive grass (yes, Cyril, grass, not glass!) inlays.

MULTIMEDIA

A 300mm touchscreen fills most of the centre stack; it's part of the 'intelligent' Harman Kardon multimedia set-up, using the latest integration technologies for smart phones, adaptive navigation and the cloud-based Aha-platform with gesture control, while four cameras in the body make car-park dings a thing of the past.

The steering has a 'parking space' for a smartphone, which serves as a second monitor when docked.

The Smart also has new high-strength, lightweight door frames, a superlight liftgate insert with function integration, a high-voltage electric heater and special, extremely robust electric plug connectors - but you don't have to plug this Smart in to charge it at home, just park it over the induction field in the floor of your garage!

Rinspeed Dock+Go - Pizza Pack Videoa

Rinspeed Dock+Go - Sound Pack Video

Rinspeed Dock+Go - Winter Pack Video