This firm thinks we’re all going to car share in the future and this is what it’ll look like
From Uber to Bluecity, many firms are getting in on car-sharing or carpooling these days.
But design firm Ideo thinks in the not so distant future, we could all be sharing cars. It has designed a new concept for the future of the car in the next 10 years, as ride-sharing and the on-demand economy expand at pace.
Ideo thinks that'll significantly switch up the way cars are designed, used and owned.
Read more: How Uber-style ride-sharing could dramatically reduce city traffic
Luis Cilimingras, managing director of Ideo London, said that to date car sharing has seen limited growth compared to the likes of home sharing, but that's not because of lack of demand, "but because today’s cars are designed for private usage".
"As soon as passengers engage in different activities to that of the driver, they become distracting and eventually disruptive," he explained. "Autonomous driving will decentralise activity in the car, opening the door to a new generation of vehicles designed for multiple, shared purposes – and as a result, ride-sharing will grow far more rapidly."
Ideo has designed a ride-sharing minivan concept:
Ideo's minivan concept would allow riders to book an individual "seat pod" in advance and set it to social or private mode (activating noise cancellation technology) addresses aspects of this. It is designed with personal storage space for each passenger underneath the seat and a large, private locker for the car's owner.
The pods can be rotated away if you want privacy or towards people if you're feeling chatty and the car would feature visors for passengers to watch films, hold video calls or work online.
Drivers can opt to ride alone or offset the cost by picking up others, or renting out the car. Passengers could reduce the price they pay by agreeing to run errands for the owner.
And the company envisages a driverless, ride-sharing future where transportation "becomes a utility".
Cilimingras said:
Most cars are only used for a small portion of any given day. When they are used, it’s mostly by a single driver.
They’re an expensive, inefficient and under-used resource, and by taking up so much space, they put a real strain on our cities.
Our design allows owners to share rides when using their car and rent it to other people when they’re not, vastly reducing the cost of vehicle ownership.
Read more: Driverless cars have officially hit the UK's roads for the first time