XO DILLO
Urban Car Design
Credits: Mitchell Joachim, Patrik Kunzler, Axel Kilian, Yanni Loukissas, Luis Rafael Berrios-Negron, Robyn Allen, Louis Basel, Raul-David Poblano
This urban car design is vitally based on the reduction of body weight via an expandable pneumatic foil and foam enclosure. The materials normally composing the outer body of the typical car are 44% of the entire mass of the vehicle. Reducing the mass thus increases fuel efficiency and acutely lowers the ecological footprint. A concept utilizing a pneumatic air bladder envelope dramatically achieves this weight reduction. This vehicle design replaces most upper chassis and body components with pressurized struts, foam, ETFE foil (Ethylene Tetrafluoroethylene), and sparse recyclable metal mesh reinforcing. The intention is to homogenize soft material usage, increase manufacturability, and design for dis-assembly. By making car bodies softer an effective green design signal is unleashed. In the life cycle of a car, transporting lighter materials to produce, maintain, and reuse benefits its every purpose from cradle to cradle. |
