The Weekend Australian Magazine provided an excellent recap of the 87th annual Geneva motor show which was just held. The show never ceases to wow attendees, and in addition to the expected model refreshes, this year the show featured a swath of futuristic concepts - startups, super-cars and even a flying car.
Autonomous and driverless concepts were definitely to be expected, as were electric concepts. One electric vehicle highlighted by The Australian was the Techrules Ren, teased last year as China's first supercar and this year unveiled in production. The Ren features Italian design and a hybrid driveline combining electric motors and a turbine powering a generator that can top up the vehicle's batteries. Top range? 1,170km, on a 15-minute charge.
Another electric featured at the show was the NanoFlowcell Quant 48Volt, a 2+2 sportscar with a top speed of 300km/h and capable of reaching 100km/h in 2.4 seconds. This vehicle doesn't require batteries at all - it's fueled by an inexpensive electrolyte called "bi-Ion", the ingredients of which are not divulged.
These cars are certainly forward looking, and not all concepts will make it to full production - and the time range for some is longer than others, with the aforementioned flying car, a joint production of Italdesign and Airbus, not slated for commercial production for another seven to ten years. However, they can certainly inspire and inform forward-looking decisions, and are a testimonial to the vitality of the auto market; at Pickles, we look to these designs for trends on which to advise our clients and technological developments that are relevant for our Innovations team. To see more that was at the Geneva motor show, check out
The Australian's recap (subscription required).
05 Apr