The Designers Speak: How Electric Propulsion Will Change the Cars of the Future

Michelin recently gathered a group of auto designers to discuss what the electrification of the auto will bring in terms of performance, safety and interior and exterior design and function.

Rather than boil that day down into a long posting, we thought - given that Michelin video-taped the entire proceeding - that you might enjoy seeing and hearing for yourselves what the designers, representing Ford, GM, Nissan, Volvo and Fisker Automotive, had to say.

Click on any of the pictures above and you'll jump to the Michelin Challenge Design site, where the seminar is broken down into videos of the opening remarks, the keynote talk on "EV Design, Then and Now" by Ford Americas design chief Moray Callum, and a dozen individual segments in which some of the world's leading designers talk about the seismic shift electric propulsion is bringing to the auto and to auto design.

Among the topics they tackle are changing public perceptions of the EV; battery charging systems; designing for occupant safety; EV battery swapping,and how design affects battery packaging. 

There's also a segment to help consumers understand electric vehicle design issues and, our favorite, a section on "the EV and passionate design."

Have fun.

Posted by

John O'Dell June 29, 2009, 2:28 AM

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Batteries, Green Vehicles, Plug-ins and Electric

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Michelin Challenge Design; EV Design