Royal College of Art creates sustainable auto concepts
Click on the image for more shots of RCA's Eco-Cars of the future
To celebrate forty years in business, the Royal College of Art's fourteen graduates this year have undertaken the challenge of designing a future eco-friendly car for the 2008 Pilkington Automotive Vehicle Design award. Of course, some of the concepts are pretty far "out there," though others, like Sergio Loureiro Da Silva's Phoenix concept actually seem plausible. The Phoenix is a bit of a mixture of a motorcycle with sidecar and a normal four-wheeled automobile; it looks awfully futuristic. Pierre Sabas won the competition with his Airflow concept, which features electric motors directly integrated into the wheels. This technique is currently being explored by multiple companies for production cars, so the design doesn't seem to stray too far from reality.
The Nereus concept by Ceri Yorath, on the other hand, strays a bit from normality with its fuel cell powertrain and transformable body panels, which shape themselves based on how you are driving. Still, Jung Hoon Rhee's Noah concept seems the furthest from reality, as its "wave seats" were meant to "duplicate the lightness of being immersed in water." Right. Take a look at all of the concepts in our gallery below. Thanks for the tip, Mike!
Gallery: RCA Future Eco-Cars
[Source: Inhabitat, Wallpaper.com]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
ML 1:56PM (7/24/2008)
I especially like the car you posted at the head of this article. It shows real future-think. Who knows, but maybe by 2020 car bodies WILL be transparent. Very clever design by this forward-thinking student. It's guys and gals like this that point to a future of car design that's creative and perhaps even possible(!).
Reply