So, you want to be green and do your part by driving an economical and compact vehicle, but you really need a pickup to get the job done. What is a futuristic hard working person to do? Well, you could get something like the CarGo and have a little of both.
The CarGo, designed by Adam Schacter, goes from travel pod to pickup with the aid of its folding bed. As a pickup, it has a flat bed for hauling around whatever you can mange to get on its bed (although I would imagine that there is a modest weight limit). It also redefines the term "Compact Truck".
When not in pickup mode, the vehicle shifts to a compact vehicle with a covered (and lockable, we presume) rear shelf compartment. The design apparently expands or contracts the wheelbase depending on its current mode, allowing the compact mode to fit in a pretty small parking area. This makes the CarGo a great choice for limited area delivery vans, and would work well for many of these needs, I can just imagine the little vehicle doing newspaper deliveries or sporting a heated compartment for delivering pizzas (among others).
The CarGo is one of the most practical pod type vehicle designs I have seen. Of course, you have to take into consideration its targeted use, which is city and urban driving in a limited area. You will not find something like this running the highways – its payload area is too small to make it practical. But as a limited area delivery vehicle, or anyone who carries a lot of gear with them someplace (divers, hobbyists, musicians, etc.) it could be a good fit. At least someone has considered a place for your stuff when going compact – George Carlin would be pleased, no doubt.
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The first factory-assembled pickup debuted in 1925 and sold for $281. Henry Ford billed it as the "Ford Model T Runabout with Pickup Body." The 34,000 built that first year featured a cargo box, adjustable tailgate, four stake pockets and heavy-duty rear springs
source: wikipedia
