A Final word on the concept
Okay, so here is the most exciting part……taking the design ( and off course the CAD model ) into the final stages……..and me getting some vital time to do the systems part…….but before that, a look at what i did in last three weeks or so….the most important stuff…….doing the interiors of the car, and making the car a bit more practical.
As you can notice, the design language follows the route set by BMW’s “Flame Surfacing”.
The intent is to create an interesting combination of convex / positive surfaces, convex / negative surfaces, and some rare flat surfaces that will embody the car’s volume in a way that justifies its function as a combination of ” City car” and an ” Utility Vehicle”.
The large wheels helps in adding to the car’s utilitarian character, while the transparent A – Pillar, the absence of B – Pillar, and the thick C-Pillar adds to the city car feel, where the passengers and drivers will enjoy the clear and unobstructed view of the surrounding city-scape.
The overall form of the car represents a strong character, which is necessary since its a part utility vehicle as well, while on the other hand, the low height and sleek surfacing gives it the agility and sophistication of a city car.
The design is dominated by two single curved lines, one which forms the shoulder line and runs over the front wheel arch, and the other which runs down the C-Pillar and cuts through the two doors to meet the front wheel arch.
The first curved line that i mentioned helps to give the car a fairly backward stance, indicating clearly that it is not a powerful car. On the other hand, the other curved line, which is aided by the two-tone color combination, helps in creating a visual shift of balance equally in the favor of front and rear.
Most of the surfaces exhibit a sense of function, which is a must for any utility vehicle. Amongst those, are
- The two separate shutters for the cargo bays at the rear end ( one for the flat floor bed for storage of long items and other one on the top for additional storage of large items ).
- The centrally split rear windows and the flat top rear end leading to it.
- The Front Scooped portion.
Reversed hinged doors ( better known as suicide doors ) opening at an angle of 90 degrees – allowing easy access to all the 4 seats.
Wait……..don’t start with the usual criticism of the front scoop yet……….because its nothing but a cargo area, and i have a couple of renderings showing the retractable cargo cover made out of reinforced fabric, which is supposed to be the solution for the front cargo bay.
I can understand your situation, as we have all grown up seeing the bonnets and specifically the ” power bulges ” on the bonnets giving us a clear idea as to how powerful the monster under the bonnet is.
Earlier, i had just planned to leave the front scoop the way it is, because it was meant to be a symbolic representation of a ” non-powerful ” car , by giving a negative bulge in a way….but people around me are so conventional, that they are used to see conventional things under the name of design, hence nobody seemed to welcome the idea of having a ” BONNET – LESS ” car- as nobody understood that im actually reducing the overall weight and visual mass of the car, and it was also about eliminating the material used to make bonnet and the hinges, etc.
Off course people asked -” if you want to make a bonnet-less car, then why don’t you make a VAN instead ?”
AGAIN – Conventional questions !
I didn’t bother to answer that, because i didn’t want my concept for car-sharing system to look like a van, since i had imagined it to be a combination of a city car and a utility vehicle. And i was ready to deviate a little from the conventional shape of a today’s car….others sadly couldn’t digest it.
I would like to question – WHY DO WE NEED BONNET ANYWAYS ? ” Just to hide the Engine ?
And what if there is no Engine there ? That’s it……there should be no hood at all.
And that is exactly why I still decided to keep the scoop as it is………in spite of all the possible discouragement by faculties, other designers, batch mates, etc……………. by using it as a cargo bay, and just giving a retractable fabric cover which will provide easy access to the small luggage bags.
Off course, the electric powered, retractable, reinforced and water-proof fabric cover will run along the guide rails, and fix into the top bit of the bumper via a simple locking mechanism.
CHECK THESE ONES ………….FOR THE SCOOP COVER
Okay, now enough explanation of the front scoop – since i have other interesting things to talk about as well.
INTERIOR DESIGN
The above few images show the seating mechanism of the car .
The seats are supported by the central shaft, which houses the fuel tank to store liquid hydrogen. So the seats rest on the fuel tank, and can be folded into a flat position, giving more than ample of space to slide large bags and daily cargo via the upper cargo bay at the rear end of the car.
Check out the section below, for a clear idea of the flat floor bed, and the additional cargo bay as well as the suspended flat-folding seats.
And since the seats are suspended over the fuel tank, it means that we get a clear , uninterrupted flat floor bed , which is very necessary for periodic cleaning purposes, considering that its a public transport vehicle.
The flat floor bed can be used for carrying large flat objects like surfboards, folding push-bikes, skateboards, etc, which comes to be very handy in case of day-to-day transportation of household goods.
Regarding the glowing wheels………well, the vehicle’s got a motor to propel it in each of its four wheels……so the neon lights in each wheel glow when the respective motors are powering the car – that means, if the car is being powered by the two front wheels, then only the front wheels will be glowing.
DESIGN OF THE INSTRUMENT PANEL
The Instrument panel ( IP ) is a very simple one – in tune with the minimalistic theme for the interior.
Effectively speaking, there isn’t a thing called as ” DASHBOARD ” in the car.
The place for housing the IP is just an extension of the central shaft – with the 13 inch LCD screen acting as the balancing point between the central shaft and the central IP dock.
The touch screen LCD panel can be swiveled in both directions along a central pivot point , so that it can be controlled by either the driver or the front passenger.
It will give access to exclusive functions like satellite navigation, google maps, street view as secondary options, while the service interface being its primary function.
Since there are no switches and buttons on the IP Dock, the controls for commonly needed major functions like air-conditioning levels, audio settings, light and ambiance settings, door locks etc are provided on all the four doors for individual access, leaving the central console absolutely neat and uncluttered.
There is a space for docking the i Pods on the central shaft, wherein every user can listen to his/ her own music via the wireless headphones.
Also provided on an individual basis, are the charging sockets for their cell phones, laptops etc, and a foldable table-top for personal use.
In addition to the touch-screen LCD, the other two components of the IP are the two large semi-circular Pods over the top surface, one each for the rev counter and speed display.
Alternatively, if the member changes the settings through the LCD screen, he gets to see the fuel level indicators ; for Hydrogen and Battery reserve level respectively , in those same two pods.
The whole interior space is fairly uncluttered, with no obstacles or hurdles in the way of any passenger or driver, allowing clear access and exit through the doors.
There is ample legroom, shoulder room and headroom for all passengers owing to the design and layout of the seats and the central console.
The chief intent behind this kind of interior design is the fact that this vehicle will be used for car pooling as well, which means that four fairly unknown car sharing members could be traveling at the same time.
Henceforth, every member should have individual access to certain functions which otherwise would be shared / common ones in any other car.
MATERIALS USED
Following materials were researched to a certain extent, wherein their properties, applications, merits and demerits were studied, and proposed in following areas -
MAKROLON Plastic – for the body of the car.
ZEOFORM – For the molded seats.
CARBON FIBER – For the fuel tank and chassis only.
SISAL – for dashboard, interior panels like floorboards, inner door walls etc.
ALCANTARA – Alternative for leather used in trim and other upholstery.
HID (High Intensity Discharge) lamps – new generation LED’s for headlamps.
INTERACTIVE LED lamps - for Blinkers.
LIGHT EMITTING WALLPAPER – for communication purpose .
SHAPE MEMORY POLYMER – for seat cushions, steering wheel etc.
IMPERMEABLE / WATER PROOF COTTON - for seat covers specially.
Day VIII – Splitting up the Cad model for CNC Milling
Now that the model was properly knitted, and converted into a solid without too much difficulties, time for splitting it up into parts which can me CNC milled. To make a physical model out of timber /soft wood, the 3 axis CNC router in the RMIT workshop demanded every single part / piece to be less than 90 mm – coz thats what the depth of the Drill bit was…..still it was recommended by Paul, the one man army at the workshop – that the parts should be 80 mm deep to be on the safer side.
And off course………..after all the above parts will be milled and glued together…….and with the wheels in their respective place…the car should look very close to what we see below -
Keep looking for more….
Day VII – Cad Model
So with most of the surfaces and knitting done – it was time to do a solid model of it…….and some minor fillets and adjustments as well……..so that the model could be converted into IGES file and the work on the physical model could be started as soon as possible.
A New Dimension to Sustainability – to work hand-in-hand with car-sharing program
Sell Sustainability
As natural resources diminish everyday, a sustainable way of making products slowly also becomes economic. Sustainability and a flourishing economy don’t have to be enemies. Far from it!
William mcDonough is an architect that takes this vision into practice and builds factories and buildings that are both more economic and more sustainable. Read more on MSNBC ( google it … )
Similar to solar panels, sustainable products can be an investment. A high purchasing price might return low usage costs. But solar panels don’t sell…
There are four types of people in making choices financially -
1.controllers
2.aspirers
3.advise sensitives
4.ease orientated.
Solar panels only aim at the small group of controllers that have an idealistic view on the environment. This ‘brand’ should aim at the other three groups by using the message of ‘Enabling people to show-off their environmental consciousness’.
The Lease program
> Cars stay in ownership of the company.
> Leasing means a contract for three years or a certain amount of kilometers, after that a new car can be purchased.
> Now the difference: after three years the car is being ‘upcycled’: parts like a fuel-cell and electro motors might be updated and reused in the new models, while structural- and bodyparts are shredded and recycled into a new car.
> All is done in a ‘green’ facility that gets its energy from natural resources.
> Customers pay for the hippest sizzle on the street and can keep up-to-date.
> These cars do not have to be expensive.
> This approach doesn’t have to stay limited to cars.
Hydrogen Filling Station
A solution to the distribution problems of introducing hydrogen as a fuel can be a network of self sustaining filling stations. These self-service stations use wind and solar energy to convert water into hydrogen. The water could even be reused from the cars.
Day VI – Cad Model
Was charged up – coz the car was taking its desired shape eventually….with fortunately all the surfaces knitting properly……it was a lucky day by all means…….
Things got really funny……….when boredom crept in…….and surfaces started deforming and distorting…. ORGANIC FORM…became a bit too much to handle !!!!
Day V – Cad Model
Finalised the front end scoop – and started the work on the rear end …
Day IV – Cad Model
the most difficult day of all…… nothing much happend…..just managed to get the wheel arc and the front end out of the mess …..well almost !
One more Concept
This is another concept that i am working on right now – its again a 4 seater , with the electric motors located in the hub of each wheel. The LEDs located in the alloys glow ON and OFF to indicate which motor is providing the power to the vehicle, and which one is dormant. The rear end of this cross-over is made out of reinforced fabric, which can be opened out in a fold-out fashion for carrying large objects like a bike, or musical instruments, which otherwise wont fit inside the vehicle boot. 
The front of the vehicle contains a storage space for temporary luggage, like shopping bags etc…which also adds to its function of serving as an utility vehicle.
Social Innovation Project – Car Sharing
A video i had made for car sharing and its importance in the year 2030 – a part of a two day workshop regarding social innovation at RMIT, Melbourne.
More to come soon !Some crucial things about the concept !
- Car should be easily identifiable – brightly colored or branded ( but not with too much advertisements )
- Not a huge car – at least 4 passengers can fit easily.
- Flexible Interiors.
- Allowance for carrying pets
- Good coffee cup holding arrangements
- I-Pod dock
- GPS dock for direct communication with the car
- A van like arrangement – for excursions, long journeys, load carrying capacity, space for a bike.
Thus, its a pretty clear picture for me now – My visualization for a ideal car for Car-share system would fall somewhere between a city car and a multi-purpose vehicle – A car which would serve both the functions – PRACTICALITY of a city car , and the JOY of an outdoor excursion vehicle , offering a great deal of flexibility and enjoyment of the long drives – and yes…..also make sure that the user doesn’t miss his own vehicle by feeling alienated inside the car !
