JAKARTA - A car that has been designed to eliminate air pollution while driving has been exhibited at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Created by British designer Thomas Heatherwick, it is hoped that a car called the Airo will begin production in China in 2023. In fact, one million is already planned.
The car's radical design was meant to tackle not only the problem of pollution, but also help solve the "space crisis". But critics weren't sure if the car could be more than just a concept car.
Despite designing a new version of the iconic London Routemaster bus, Heatherwick is best known for her architectural projects such as Google's headquarters in California and London. He told the BBC that although he had never designed a car before, he was intrigued by the brief.
"When I was growing up, design values were embodied through cars, whether it was Ford Sierra in the 1980s, Fiat Panda, some great ideas came through cars. When we were approached by IM Motors in China, we said we weren't car designers and they said 'that's why we want you'," he said.
The car - which was first introduced at the Shanghai auto show in April - has a large glass roof, and the interior is designed to look like a room, with adjustable chairs that can turn into a bed, and a center table for meetings or meals. The steering wheel is hidden in the dashboard and the exterior is textured, with a series of ripples or bumps.
"Automakers are failing to make electric cars, but a new electric car shouldn't just be another car with a different look," said Heatherwick.
In addition to wanting to reflect the airflow over the car on the jagged exterior, the front grille will be equipped with an air filter.
:This filter will collect particles the size of tennis balls per year. That may not sound like much. But think about the tennis ball in your lungs, which contributes to cleaning the air, and with one million vehicles in China alone that's growing," he told the BBC.
The car is also planned to have an autonomous mode and which can be directly controlled by the driver.
"I can't see how this car can make a significant contribution to solving many of the problems associated with owning and using a car," Peter Wells, professor of sustainable business studies at Cardiff Business School's Center for Automotive Industry Research, told the BBC.
"The contribution of this car to clean the air in our polluted city center would be so small that it is impossible to measure. This is immediately apparent when you compare the volume of air that might pass through the car's filtration system with the total volume of air," said Wells.
The second big idea behind the design of the car is to be an alternative space for the owner. "COVID has escalated the space crisis. Many of us live in flats and homes and need more space, offices or study spaces," Heatherwick said.
In the world today it is estimated that there are one billion cars in use. But only 10 percent of the time humans are in the car. The emergence of this car makes people can use it more than that amount. It can even become a valuable home for its owner.
Heatherwick may have been inspired by the first-class seats on airplanes, which passengers use to sleep, eat, entertain and work. “The car becomes a communal space for when not driving,” adds Heatherwick.
The vehicle will be priced at around 40,000-pound sterling and is described by Heatherwick as not a crazy luxury.
But Prof Wells is skeptical that the car will be designed in the form it is currently on display. "The auto industry has a long history of creating excitement around concept cars, but the transition to production - if that happens - usually means that exciting features are replaced by something more mundane, produceable, practical to use and cost-effective," said Wells.
But Heatherwick believes in the Concept. "This is not a fantasy. The whole idea is that the car is not just a concept car. That's why we work with manufacturers, and we focus everything on ideas that can happen," said Heatherwick. But he also admits that the design may be a bit more streamlined when it goes into mass production.
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