Watch: Mobility and the Megacity
How do we navigate the new urban age? And what does this mean for the future of automotive design? From automated transport and autonomous driving, to the integration of vehicles into the smart city, and vertical mobility concepts, CDN speaks to designers tackling the principal challenges of our time
Mobility and the Megacity tackled a variety of ideas: the smart city, charging infrastructure, and the idea of data-driven design. On hand to share their thoughts were D-Ford’s Lab Director Usha Ragavachari and Lou Tik, founder of EV car maker XEV. Tik explained how data informed his decision-making ‘it doesn’t lie’ he reasoned. Cars have been seen as the enemy of the city - polluting and dangerous to pedestrians but Tik said that cars can be a part of the solution if they become more adaptable.
Tik cited the windshield as an hypothetical example – could it be used as a touchscreen when the car was not being used. While Ragavachari agreed that data was useful to a point, she said that certain solutions did not take into account human behaviour. “I’ve seen things that made perfect technical sense.” There was alignment on the challenges faced by the surge in EVs. Infrastructure or lack of is the chief problem. “We have an aggressive target for 2025 but at the moment it is not possible,” said Tik.
For more on-demand videos from Car Design Dialogues and other video interviews, visit the broadcast page of the CDN website.