Imagine this: Sometime in the future – private ownership of cars may be curtailed.
Car will then be shared but not owned. This will fundamentally change the way companies think of and develop cars. Cars will not be seen as possessions but as modes of transport. Cars will in short be PUBLIC TRANSPORT.
What then will these cars look like? Do post your ideas and discussion points. I would be very keen to hear what you think.
13 Comments
August 16, 2008 at 3:13 pm
According to me, Cars wont be delicate then…….they will have materials which would be strong, durable…..and often replaceable…. they might shed off their sexiness and beauty in order to embrace more practicality and space – they will most probably be multi-purpose vehicles – since serving one function wont be enough to justify their sale value….the SKIN would be transformed and cud be changed in order to retain its novelty – and since it would be a thing of personal transport……the technology will be the most commonly found in household appliances of that time……..since it has to suit everyones taste !
Anti-theft devices such as immobilisers and advanced and complicated locking mechanisms will be kept at bay….cars will be as light as they could be…..one shouldn’t be surprised if we see bench seats back into use – instead of personal ( bucket ) seats … safety norms will be less stringent…..and so will be the safety devices on offer……….
If all this is to happen……..then more importantly….they wont be called ” CARS ” anymore…..they would be referred to as – FOUR WHEELERS……or : AUTOMOBILES…….now wouldn’t that be wonderful !!!!!
August 16, 2008 at 6:19 pm
the concept of PLUG n PLAY is a definite HIT amongst other electronic media, and cars will be another interpretation of an Electronic device, with maximum controls offered to the “INTEL INSIDE” and less n less to the driver / Human……
On the other hand, i would prefer the concept of HOUSE ON WHEELS….
August 16, 2008 at 6:26 pm
or in the age of recycling…….as an element of the INTELLIGENT CAR – one might see the possibility of really cheap cars……. which can be disposed off ………recycled and exchanged for a new one………not the usual Use-and -throw stuff what we see now , where a car is just sent into the scrap-yard and crushed into a metal sheet……and everything ( well at the most excluding the engine if its a German make ! ) is just sold as a scrap….KILO KE BHAAV SE !!
But on the other hand , the concept of recycling the old cars in exchange of a new one would be lethal , as it would encourage more and more people to USE cars ( even as public transport ) and thereby deviate the whole effort of pursuing people not to drive cars , and engage in cycling and walking……. which is the PRIMARY AIM of not owning a car , and not to use Public transport.
I would like to see pose 2050 as a world with cycles – unicycles , bicycles , tri-cycles, quadra cycles…..all sorts of designs ……more efficient…but more importantly…..a Human powered world.
August 16, 2008 at 6:36 pm
For some time now my train of though has been not about – Materials, power Plant, and individualistic cars. I have been thinking that if cars are owned by a city – then the aesthetic will be governed like the Urban Arts Commission of cities. That is the look of the cars will be seen to be a movable landscape – and so subject to aesthetic control in the way public buildings are. So if cars are ‘mobile architecture’ then what happens to their design?
1. Cars will not be flashy – and juvenile. They may more often be anonymous. The trains in copenhagen are a case in point. Minimalistic austere and deliciously elegant.
2. Cars will have to by sympathetic to the geographic precinct. Will the cars in older neighbourhoods – a la Prince Charles edict for London facades – be retro styled and like they do with tram cars. The city circle tram in melbourne in a case in point.
3. If cars are mobile architecture – then they cant be stolen. For they are like the buildings themselves – urban scape.
I dont agree with the VW 2028 vision – but I can see where they are coming from. Its a technological innovation – just more gizmo and gadgetry.
Cars as social innovation will be something else again.
Cars as night shelter for the homeless?
August 16, 2008 at 10:02 pm
From Ido Bruno, IDBruno Jerusalem —
Hello Soumitri and all,
Seems like a good academic project, especially if it is focused on deep change and service orientation and not styling or technological innovations.
A few possible paths that occur to me:
1. Most large cities are combustion engine/4 wheel oriented, what if a new type of city is designed for a new type of vehicle? Can this simultaneous change create a positive developement for both transportation and urban living?
2. On a completely different angle, a lot of people seem to be troubled by the hygienic aspects of public utilities especially those that require close physical contact and constant change of hands without a recognised operator (unlike the the taxi situation). A train or a bus are like a public space or public furniture while a public shared car is In a sense more like a public toilet. This comparison can create an interesting inquiry into the solutions found for the public toilet problem: self washing toilets, coin operated, attendant operated, or even the quite common solution of using commercial institutions such as department stores, fast food joints and cafes as alternatives to the municipal toilets.
3. Don”t know about moving landscape, there seems to be a question of size (meaning proportions to human scale) and function. Landscape doesn”t usually move (unless its a cloud). if its less than a minibus/van/small truck it will probably never realy look like landscape, more like big street furniture (even big recycling bins are to my mind more furniture than landscape). All this of course is limited to discussion of moving objects of the type we know today. What if then, the public automobile is long and thin (like a tandem bicycle)? or very tall (like a moving column)? a few years ago a student of mine designed a taxi that was very tall, among its advantages were the fact that the driver was sitting high up and in the back, giving him good field of view but allowing the passengers an even better view of the street and very good accessability.
4. It also raises the classic design topic of the generic design, the type we grow up with to later become the object of our nostalgia – see for example the london taxi (thats the one i never grew up with but still admire….) its a lot to do with robustness and simplicity, much like the admiration for army vehicles (and all other artifacts for that matter) that breeds (quite good) civilian versions like the jeep and (terrible) versions like the civilian Hummers. The challenge of consciously designing such a product is enough for a lifetime of effort.
August 17, 2008 at 10:01 pm
I would imagine the car of the future will be much like the car of the past. It may not run on petrol though and would have to be old-age friendly but will probably be the means for personal transport. We think otherwise only because of the present congestion on the roads and the rising population growth coupled with the oil crises etc. But as trends in most parts of the world show, population growth will level off in the next few decades and will decline thereafter as is happening in much of the western world. (Take a look at The Depopulation Problem by Philip Longman http://media.longnow.org/seminars/salt-0200408-longman/salt-0200408-longman.pdf ) We could be in a situation where public transport is the more expensive option with fewer people to distribute costs. Besides, public transport alone will never fulfill all transportation needs.
In a way aren’t we asking, ‘Would it be better to replace private enterprise with State alternatives?’ Well, so far such models of governance have not been satisfactory. Besides, Nature would prefer variety and difference to sameness?
Regards.
Dinesh Korjan
August 18, 2008 at 10:20 am
If we preface the notion of ‘the future’ with the idea of the ‘car’, then we carry with that the massive industrial and economic structures that have made the car what it is – Like Dinesh I think the car of the future will the remain much as it is today – with some slight changes in size, style and fuel / power mix. The ‘car’ will continue maintain the idea that private personal transport products are reflective of social and economic position – providing a necessary stylistic differentiator for people. What incentive is there for anything radically different. The real question then is why does the car occupy such significance in the ways people differentiate themselves from others – and if such differentiation is the preserve of designed products, then why do other existing product types not have the same sway?
In Australia there is a policy position on the design and production of cars that has positioned this industry as the logical center of manufacturing technology and employment – we elevate ‘cars’ to a position where we are concerned with the outcome of production (a car)as if it were a part of the essential fabric of our society, an industry we cannot loose. There is a statistic in that for every job in the Automotive industry in Australia (approx 60000 jobs) the state pitches in at least 3 times the average wage of each employee in this sector – a huge amount, and an amount that is not matched in any other sector of the Australian economy – this is how much we value the idea of the car. If this level of subsidy stopped the cars we could make would be radically different – if as a society we value the production of cars more than three times what we would pay for them, then would we be prepared to drive and own the types of cars that we could afford to produce?
Much of the cost in the production of cars is the safety and ‘real estate’ demands of the modern car consumer – both entirely aesthetic concerns – and if costs had to be cut by say one third – then I imagine it would be these intangible aspects of the product that would go first. Without these aspects – the style and the security – who would be prepared to buy a car in the future?
I suspect some would, but most wouldn’t and would demand alternatives – as the need to travel and to cart goods over distance will in the end out-weigh any aesthetic preferences we might have.
Which is a curious thing as it has been the aesthetic of the car that has driven its development as a set of technologies and not its utility.
But if we remove the word “car” and think about ‘transportation’ then instantly we can consider options beyond the private and mechanical.
hmmm
August 18, 2008 at 10:45 am
I should have read the original question before the last comment..
If cars were public transport what wold they be?:
1. Free to use (or paid for use through some exchange / contribution people make to the lives of others in society)For example – Imagine if you paid for the use of the car / trip with fresh food – that would be distributed to those in need as the car traveled around the city.
2. Useful: has to cater for the various needs of people.
3. Reflective of the society we would like to live in: open, equitable, healthy, courteous etc..
4. They would facilitate socialization and would be inclusive of all potential users
5. Durable (mechanically, style wise, and materially)
6. Safe (designed so that no-one could be injured in / by them)
7. Non polluting.
August 19, 2008 at 12:51 pm
The car of the future:
The car of the future i believe will change dramatically as reduction in the use of fossil fuels, carbon emissions, sustaniabilty, and space will all have to be taken into account for the future of car design. Cars will have to greener, more efficient and consume far less energy in both there production and there use. I think the cars of the future will take far more aerodynamic bodies with small yet powerful drivetrains that will produce the same power as today however use far less energy in use and production. Cars i think will once again revert to there past in which they will be seen more as a luxury item in which only high medium/rich income earners will only be able to afford to a) own but b) drive them. Saying im sure there will be so much more simply modes of transport that cars will be only a part of the transport system, not the main part because there will be so much else on offer to use. So back to the cars i think car companies will decide what path suits them in relation to greener vehicles (ie electric, hydrogen, bio-fuelled, hybrid, gas, methane, etc:) and develop a company profile around what path they decide to go down. But one thing is for sure the cars of the future as i can see will still be basically as they are today… 4 wheels, steering whell and a motor, just alot more efficient and less harmful to the environment; because as they say “if it aint broke, dont fix it”
Regards
Aaron Muldowney
August 21, 2008 at 5:24 pm
The eradication of private ownership of cars will surely require both a radical and innovative regime. A car sharing system or ‘moving landscape’ would definitely require a lot of planning, trial and error, and research. People are dependent on their cars to get them to work, the airport, from a to b etc.
It is hard to come to terms with the concept of a world without privately owned personal vehicles as they form such a solidly grounded aspect of modern living.
Unless there is a dramatic shift in attitude of the general public and the desire for sustainability and the eradication of pollution becomes mainstream, alternatives to privately owned vehicles seem a little out of reach. Even people who do care about the environment and desire change drive cars.
The most promising concept would probably be a highly efficient form of public transport which manages to create enough incentive for current car-dependents to switch.
I believe any dramatic change in the car will only really involve the type of energy it consumes. Obviously the shift away from fossil fuels is already underway. Perhaps the ongoing quest for a more efficient source of energy will eventually bestow us with the ultimate solution.
September 30, 2008 at 12:10 am
[...] soem very interesting ideas on the car of the future What will the car of the future look like? « Social Innovation Projects [...]
November 11, 2008 at 3:01 pm
The car of the future may look surprisingly like they do today. Dont you think?
November 14, 2008 at 10:57 pm
As long as its cheaper to run and safer to ride in i will buy one.