Blog 26 3/28/11

Howdy Folks! Many of you wanted to revisit automotive technology. Here's a story that Chito found that I thought was way cool (big thanks to Chito by the way). My words continue at the bottom: Think about your favourite vehicle from TV or film, what is it? Let me guess – the DeLorean from Back To The Future or KITT from Knight Rider? Well how would you feel if I were to tell you that these kind of vehicles might exist in future? Don’t get your hopes up just yet, they might exist one day. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t any other really cool, futuristic concept vehicles that we are more likely to see in our lifetime. Here are ten of the coolest future concept vehicles. As always, please wait to comment until Thursday. 1. Aventos

Image source - greenlaunches

Expect most vehicles of the future to be eco-friendly, such as this majestic yellow design from Aventos. Described as a green car (don’t confuse with its colour) the Aventos vehicle promises to reduce the carbon footprint. It can be used as a personal car but its main design has been for transporting good around a city making it primarily an urban vehicle but with a naturist’s touch. Aventos also helps to promote car pooling. A detachable module at the rear also plays the role of nomadic shop. 2. Amphibious Car Image source - hardwaresphere

The Amphibious Car is still in its earliest production stages as you can see from the picture but it is looking promising for the future. Designer Jorge Cross has scheduled 2030 as the realistic release year. Adopting the technology of hydrodynamics the car certainly has a very low centre of gravity. Cross has also incorporated a super capsule chassis design. 3. Peugeot Ozone Image source - luxurylaunches

Peugeot have come up with an ingenius design for an eco-friendly vehicle that looks like something out of the game show Gladiators. The Ozone has semi-transparent glass and is a hydrogen fuelled cell that sits neatly in between two giant wheels. These are controlled by two seperate electric motors, which are operated by the fuel cells. The symmetrical metal body has a sliding door which rotates a full 360 degrees in its own frame. How clever! 4. BMW GINA Image source - geekologie

Chris Bangle, head of design at BMW, unveiled this new car which is called GINA (stands for Geometry and functions In ‘N’ Adaptions). GINA is basically a fabric-covered car that can change shape at the press of a button. It has been built on the Z8 chassis and has a 4.4-liter V8 and six-speed automatic transmission. The exterior’s fabric skin, made from polyurethane-coated Lycra, is resilient, waterproof and durable. It’s been stretched out over an aluminium frame that’s controlled by electric and hydraulic actuators that allow the owner to change the body shape. 5. BMW ZX-6 Image source - gadgets.boingboing

Third-year students at the Instituto Europea di Design in Turin are behind this hugely ambitious concept vehicle. In partnership with BMW, Jai Ho Yoo and Lukas Vanek were able to design this complex looking car of the future. It integrates a strip of outer shell that offers protection to the wheels whilst offering an interesting new design for the doors. Although it does look rather complicated the ZX-6 is definitely worth looking out for in the future, otherwise BMW would not have offered their partnership to the institution. 6. MoVille Image source - finesttech

This tear-shaped, single passenger vehicle was designed by Woo-Ram Lee from France for the 2008 Peugeot Design Contest. Built from the biodegradable plastic the MoVille car is regarded as a zero-emission drive train. The little electric car uses electromagnets in order to rotate the car’s three omnidirectional magnetic ball wheels. The sliding window is used a door to enter/exit the vehicle whilst a second door is integrated and consists of photovoltaic solar cells where the car’s batteries can be recharged. 7. The CLEVER Image source - thecontaminated

CLEVER is an acronym for Compact Low Emission Vehicle for Urban Transport. Designed especially for city dwellers it was created at the Technical University in Berlin, Institute for Motor Vehicles. The vehicle seats two people, requires little space, has a low weight, a low fuel consumption and low emissions. 8. Nanish K R Image source - ecofriend

This as yet unnamed car of the future was created by Indian auto designer Nanish K R. Despite its menacing appearance it’s actually very eco-friendly and is on track for a 2020 release. The vehicle is powered by four independent electromagnetic wheels, which are each made of two sliding rings – one being an electromagnet and one being a permanent magnet. The electromagnet is powered by lithium-ion batteries installed on the vehicle’s chassis and gets the same polarity as the permanent magnet. This creates a force which converts the rings into motion. 9. The MAG Image source - zimbio

The Magnetic Concept Car, simply known as The MAG, is the brainchild of designer Matúš Procháczka. With its futuristic body this innovative concept car is driven by an electric engine that generates a magnetic field, which propells the vehicle forward. The MAG was the winner of the ‘Unseen Technology Award’ at the Interior Motives Design Award 2007. 10. Igarashi Helicopter Image source - dvice This single-person helicopter was created by Japanese designer Yutaka Igarashi. Looking like a Transformer in the guise of a giant blue insect. Obviously only trained pilots can fly this vehicle as it can only fit one person. The helicopter has been equipped with everything needed to give the private flight a higher reliability and its size is smaller in comparison to other helicopters in order to give the flyer more control to manoeuvre.

Me again:

I thought there were some super new ideas in this site. Take a closer look at the Peugot Ozone. How sweet is that thing? I'm telling ya. Put me a recliner and a small fridge in there and I'm NEVER coming out!

For blog credit this week, tell me which of these vehicles you'd pick, and tell me why.

Oh and BTW? I'm not riding with any of you who choose that helicopter!

Talk to me . . .