Designers Present Bold Visions of Future Cars

The internal combustion engine will soon belong to the past -- at least that's what the designers of the future seem to think. Students at Pforzheim University have come up with radical new designs for cars that will run on batteries, photovoltaic and fuel cells.

The design faculty at Pforzheim University in southern Germany is regarded as one of the most prestigious centers for the training of future automobile designers. The current crop of students, whether in their first year or about to graduate, are all coming to the same conclusion with their end of year projects. The car only has a future if it is practically reinvented from scratch.

PHOTO GALLERY: CAR DESIGNS FOR THE FUTURE

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There are two points that seem to be essential in all of their designs. Firstly, the cars of the future have to be extremely energy efficient. This means that the concepts of lightweight construction and minimizing friction and wind resistance are paramount in their work. Secondly, cars are products that will continue to evoke strong emotions, and the use and perception of the automobile will have to stimulate the senses more than ever.

"In general we consider the coming years as a particularly exciting period of revolutionary steps in the development of automobiles, and the resulting paradigm shift in design," explains Lutz Fügener, Professor for Transportation Design at the university. The basic task of these creative types will be as follows: How should cars look that are ecologically sustainable and extremely energy efficient but at the same time remain the distinctive mode of transport for individuals?

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Fügener predicts the demise of the internal combustion engine over the next 20 or 30 years and this should indeed provide these nascent designers with great new opportunities. The concept for an electric car, for example, can be completely different to the previous automobiles because the technical components can be distributed much more freely within the body of the vehicle. The use of photovoltaic cells in the carriage or the ability to drive powered by hydrogen or fuel cells will require a completely new design.

The projects that the Pforzheim students have come up with and that are now on show at the university are a glimpse into the not too distant future and make it clear that the age of the car is far from over. "We stick to a basic principle," Fügener says. "The future is better than the past. And we are working on it."

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