Bachelor in Transportation Design – Car Design – a.y. 2006/07

The Prius of 2010-2015

Tomorrow’s Hybrid vehicle

With an eye to raise the attention of young designers on issues such as eco-sustainability and, in line with a precise strategy that aims to develop ecological hybrid vehicles, this year the 26 students in their third year of the Three Year post-diploma Transportation Design – car design Course (a.y. 2006 – 2007) have taken Toyota as their inspiration, seeing as the top Japanese car manufacturer and currently number two at international level, one of the most active on the Automotive market in terms of technological research aimed at reducing environmental impact to a minimum. In particular, the project has taken as its point of reference the Toyota Prius, the hybrid electric/petrol sedan which enables very low gas consumption and emissions thanks to the use of very advanced technology.

Taken Prius as it’s inspiration and considering its intrinsic technological features, the thesis project has set itself the goal of pinpointing new concepts for a Toyota hybrid car, focused on the market of the near future. To the students, led by Fulvio Fantolino, Transportation Design Course Coordinator and followed in the various design stages by Elvio D’Aprile, Assistant Chief Designer, Toyota Europe Design Development, and by Tateo Uchida, General Director Research and Project Forum, the task to come up with concepts that, in addition to heightening the technological excellence, could stress the emotional element, an essential characteristic to conquer the European and world market.

The class is organised into ten workgroups, each of which has developed their own proposal beginning with a concept and going right up to the final result: 10 1:4 scale models, made in collaboration with Cecomp and Model Resine.

Among the ten concepts presented, we would like to underline the three proposals which best answered the requirements indicated in the initial brief: the “Forma” project by Marco Cerrato, Enrico Remolif and Danilo Tosetti; the “Waterfall” project by Dennis Braga and Andrea Mocellin and finally the “H.A.L.O. Hybrid Advance Line Over” project by Michele Deconcini and Fabrizio Salerno.

“Designing the Toyota Prius, the world icon of hybrid vehicles, with the idea of trying to conceive it in a near future has been a very strenuous and exciting exercise for our students – claims César Mendoza, Director of IED Turin – and they have shown a great deal of passion in meeting the challenge of creating a strong impact aesthetical statement that might put forward the idea of “intelligent” technology, reaching the objective that had been set them and putting into practice what they have learnt during their three years of study. On the same level as Ferrari and McLaren, Toyota represents another excellent opportunity for young designers to learn and come into contact with a prestigious car manufacturing reality which, according to its  wilfully intent on reconciling machine, man and environment into a harmonic relationship, has thus placed eco-sustainability at the hub of its design philosophy”.

Toyota