By the year 2035 I believe that there will be a requirement for a new class of commuter vehicle. It will take over from the taxis of today and make a huge dent on personal cars of city workers.It will need to blend automation, vehicle to vehicle and vehicle to infrastructure communication, shared usage and mass travel all together. I envisage that it will be used by the ever growing middle class commuter within the city along with the ever present tourists in the mega city.
“By replacing the human driver with an electrical operating system,
cars are able to drive at high speed at short distances behind one another.”
(Schilperoord, 2006)
Vehicle safety is always a priority when it comes to modern vehicle
design. By automating the driving process you can eliminate human error and
reduce reaction times for such things as braking and accelerating. This in turn
makes the process safer, the traffic run smoother and reduces the chances of
blocked roads.
There will most likely still be many cars on the roads that
don’t have full automation so certain safety aspects will still be require,
crumple zones, airbags, seatbelts etc. But the automated vehicles could have
their own lanes on the larger roads. Similar to how bus lanes and carpool lanes
exist at the moment. The following extract shows that the major car
manufacturers of today are seriously thinking about the development of the
driving experience.
“Certainly, car sharing is an option,” says Ralf Herrtwich,
a leader in Mercedes’s autonomous car project, in Stuttgart. “Get the vehicle
at your command, drop it at your convenience, no parking.”
(Spectrum.ieee.org, 2014)
The car sharing aspect lead me onto further developing the
idea that you can buy your own carriage or you can use a standard issue version
much like a the choice between owning your own car or using a taxi service in
the present day.
The materials that will be used to construct the vehicle
will be lightweight and the need for crash protection will be lower as the
chances of crashing would have been reduced. I imagine that by the year 2035
the majority of structural components of the vehicles will be a variety of
inexpensive yet super strong polymers such as carbon fibre based sheeting.
I came to this conclusion by looking backwards at the
development in the materials used in vehicle production. The original vehicles
such as litters, carts and carriages were constructed from wood. Then as the
vehicles developed at the car was created, the body was constructed from beaten
sheet steel over wooden or iron frames. As technology moved forward so did the
way the vehicle body was constructed. The car chassis became part of the car
bodywork when the monocoque chassis was created. Now the development has moved
on further and the top car manufacturers such as Audi and Jaguar are now using
monocoque chassis made from aluminium to provide the same strength as the steel
equivalent but at a reduced weight. This in turn gives the consumers better
fuel consumption.
“Aluminium is a relatively recent addition to the world of
metals. Audi have embraced this high-tech, lightweight material with its
incredible mechanical properties, and made it a major feature of their
brand-testament to their commitment to developing and using advanced
engineering and materials... The A8 model offers a substantial weight reduction
compared with similar cars. The space frame” weighs only 215kg, almost half the
weight of an equivalent frame in steel” (Lefteri, 2006)
Further developments in materials in car manufacturing has
led to the use of carbon fibre reinforced plastics becoming more popular. As
you can see, the trend in the industry has alwaysbeen to find a safer, lighter
weight and stronger material for the body and chassis construction.
Recently a company called Local Motors has used the latest
3D printing technology to create a car chassis and body in full for an electric
car. This innovative thinking could lead to a future scenario where cars are
fully manufactured from Direct Digital Manufacturing also known as 3D printing.
This can reduce tooling costs and the numbers of components needed.
The aesthetics will blend cutting edge styling with nods to
the transport type’s historic cultural roots. Sweeping aerodynamically designed
profiles are beneficial for the fuel economy of the vehicle which extends the
range in which it can travel. There are historical references to the classic
rickshaws with pole like attachments at the front of the vehicle, the high
seating position and the traditional red and gold colouring.
The vehicle will fully embrace the need for social
connectivity of the users. As the user enters the vehicle they will be logged
into their own social stream. This can be used by the tourists to find attractions
and events in the area as well as letting them interact with friends around the
world.
The major use for the vehicle however will be for commuting.
The users can buy their own carriage unit or choose to lease one. The drive
units will be like the ‘runners’ of traditional rickshaws and will contain all
the mechanical workings, the vehicle to vehicle technologies and the power cell
units.
The way the vehicle is powered will be a huge improvement
over current procedures. Currently the majority of fully electric vehicles are
charged from main grid power and have stay at the power source. This is a
threefold problem, you cannot use the vehicle now it is charging and it is
still using the scarce and expensive fossil fuels to provide the energy that
will be damaging the environment. The fossil fuel supply will be an increasing
problem in the coming decades.
“There are an estimated 1.3 trillion barrels of proven oil
reserve left in the world's major fields, which at present rates of consumption
will be sufficient to last 40 years. By 2040, production levels may be down to
15 million barrels per day – around 20% of what we currently consume.”
(Imeche.org, 2014)
In Guangzhou 2035 the fuel cells will be placed on long
charge in solar charging stations and then fully charged will be transferred
into the drive unit. This way is beneficial as the drive unit does not need any
down time to recharge. A fully charged fuel cell is always ready when its
current charge is nearing depletion.
A luxury, autonomous vehicle that can be your office that is
connected to the world through superfast wireless internet or the tour guide
carriage for visitors to the city, the Jiao is the ideal commuter vehicle for
the busy megacity Guangzhou in the year 2035.