Autonomous electric cars could look quite different from current combustion engine cars, according to a top auto executives.
Simple electric motors, no need for complex transmissions, much reduced cooling and no crumple zones, thanks to autonomy eliminating crashes.
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So, might the shift to EVs bring bubble- or pod-shaped cars like those popularised by the 1960s futuristic animated comedy series, The Jetsons?
"That is the next logical step," Karim Habib, head of design for Nissan's premium brand Infiniti, told Reuters.
Habib added: "It is definitely the next step, particularly if you image a world of zero accidents with autonomous drive technology fully working. If cars will never crash, the ultimate most efficient (shape) of a personal mobility could be a glass cube."
Infiniti's Q Inspiration Concept car, unveiled at the Detroit show in January and set to make an Asia debut at the Beijing show this week, has a shortened bonnet (hood), a coupe-like roofline and SUV-like interior room despite being a sedan, Reuters noted. Daimler's Mercedes-Benz has displayed a concept called the F015 with wheels set close to the bumpers, and a large interior space under a roof line that arcs like a rainbow.
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By GlobalDataAccording to Reuters, some in the industry, like Chinese funded smart electric car startup Byton, think everyday cars, used for commuting and errands, will be much simplified if they are electrified and enabled by autonomous drive technology.
That's because cars today are all "over [specified]," Byton's co-founder and CEO Carsten Breitfeld told Reuters.
Most current ICE models have seats for four to seven people even though for 70% of use they have only one or two people in them. Some have top speeds of 250km per hour (155mph), even though few ever drive that fast.
Future everyday cars likely would would have fewer seats, more luggage space and smaller wheels to further free up interior room.
They can be very boxy since there's no need to make those lower-speed cars aerodynamic, Breitfeld said.
"You'd design a smaller but roomy car for one or two passengers and make it more luxurious," Breitfeld told Reuters. "You could offer the kind of first-class experience you have in the commercial airplanes."
Daimler told Reuters it thinks a new generation of electric vehicles will have "a much longer wheelbase" to accommodate the batteries required for long range operation.
Johannes Reifenrath, head of Mercedes-Benz product and powertrain strategy, said future electric premium vehicles will provide a large interior space with a shorter distance between the front bumper and front wheels.
"Infiniti needs to find its own style," said Christian Meunier, the division's vice president for global sales and marketing, told Reuters.
He believes electrification technology offers Infiniti a chance to inject more elegance and simplicity into automotive design.
"With EV, simplicity is going to be more and more."
