2013 LA Auto Show Design Challenge entries announced

For the last 10 years, the LA Auto Show has organized a “Design Challenge” which pits automotive design teams from across the globe against each other in a not-very-prestigious, but still rather fun competition. Each year the Design Challenge brief is different, and this year the title is: Biomimicry and Mobility 2025: Nature’s Answer to Human Challenges.

The 2013 Design Challenge brief states: “With biological knowledge doubling every five years, designers now have the instruments and the capacity to mimic nature like never before.  Nature is becoming one of the best R&D labs we know.  This year’s Design Challenge asks automotive design studios to design a vehicle experience that uses biomimicry to increase the efficiency of our human capacity and improve mobility.  The winning entry will identify issues facing mobility like congestion, pollution, sustainability, flexibility and safety and to design a mobility solution that mimics nature to solve the challenges.”

Nine different teams, from Germany, Japan, China and the U.S are all attending, and the entries will be judged on several factors including:

- Creative adaptation of nature’s laws (plants & animals)
- Application of human intelligence to biomimicry in unique ways to improve the efficiency of future vehicles
- Comfort, convenience, aesthetics of the vehicle
- Sustainability of the building, servicing, operation, and life cycle
- The personality of the vehicle in relationship to the brand

The winner will be announced on November 21. Below are all nine entries along with the explanation from the designers.

 Design Team: Frederic Dupuis-Jung, Keiji Omaki, Nicolas Blondeau, Keishi Yoshikawa

About: JAC Motors introduces “HEFEI” (Harmonious Eco-Friendly Efficient Infrastructure), a totally rethought mobility solution inspired by the self-sufficiency of the eco-system. This mobility network offers symbiosis between vehicles and their urban environment. Idle vehicles are used to power running vehicles; a power grid supports the entire system; and automated traffic regulates itself, decreasing accidents, traffic jams and energy loss.

 Design Team: Jacques Flynn, Tim Brown, Seung Joong Kim

About: In reaction to the impending demise of the 2025 driver, Mazda has designed “AUTO ADAPT.” Studying the biological phenomenon of adaptation and specifically how insects have adapted, Mazda has created a vehicle that has the ability to adapt from being fully autonomous to a manual machine. These vehicles are geared directly to those true drivers out there that long for the excitement found with driving an automobile; the excitement expected to be completely eliminated from the autonomous cars of 2025.

 Design Team: Xu Dengtao, Ling Yuzhou, Ji Zhiheng, Niu Wenbo, Zhang Mingxi, Qian Junlin

About: Inspired by a simple ant’s distinctive body structure and the mutually beneficial relationship between ants and trumpet trees, SAIC Motors designed Roewe “Mobiliant.” Mobiliant is a single-seat vehicle for urban public transit, which helps improve both transportation and operation efficiency for future urban ecological systems.

Design Team: Tim Pilsbury, Aditya Mahajan, Alex O’Brien, Rob Ho, Alex Segura, Jamie Barrett, Zhang Yue, Jihoon Seo, Clement Poireé

About: Acting as a control hub, the “Silk Road System” designed by Qoros will allow vehicles to operate harmoniously, actively eliminating accidents. Using the silk worm as its inspiration, Silk Road Vehicles and Silk Bots, in coordination with the overall system will serve to offer the drivers of Shanghai a fool-proof, sustainable and waste-free mobility system.

 Design Team: Masashi Kaneda, Fabian Kreis, Yohei Noshiro, David Cohen

About: The innovative, affordable and fun personal mobility vehicle from Subaru’s designers was created to change the man-vehicle relationship in a revolutionary way. The “SUBA-ROO” is a one-legged, self-contained, wearable mobility vehicle with a propulsion method which mimics the efficient yet powerful jumping motions of a kangaroo. With the SUBA-ROO’s all-road, go anywhere capability and Subaru’s Eye-Sight safety system, the path to your destination is unlimited. On the road, a trail, a beach, or in a building, SUBA-ROO will widen the boundaries of mobility and bring back the joy of personally mobility for everyone to enjoy.

 Design Team: John Buckingham, Anders Thogersen, Jose Casas, Daniel Hahn, Marc Girard

About: To solve LA’s daily traffic congestion and decrease the environmental impact, BMW Group DesignworksUSA designers explore forgotten waterways as a commuting alternative with their vehicle concept, “L.A. Subways.” Inspired by the efficiency of swarms and the unique power generating processes found within cells, BMW Group DesignworksUSA’s design serves to answer the ever-growing challenges of mobility in Los Angeles.

 Design Team: Chris Lee, Nikolaos Siakos, Kai Langer

About: Inspired by biomimicry, the BMW “S.E.E.D (Sustainable Efficient Exploratory Device)” was created to explore the world’s harshest environments in search for new life forms and inspiration. Using the maple seed as its main inspiration, this vehicle uses a multifunctional rotating tail and nature’s elements such as solar energy, wind and gravity as its main sources of mobility.

 Design Team: Wang Jingjing, He Wei, Chen Mingshi, Zhou Shuxin

About: Using a hollow reed design in a spiral dynamic configuration, Changfeng has created “‘LaBrea’ – Los Angeles Bio Research Project,” which utilizes a closed loop and semi rigid torsion reed network to distribute and manage maneuvering capabilities. The entire system resembles a grasshopper, capable of running, jumping, climbing, swimming and also the ability to squeeze between narrow openings. From holographic Emoji to update traffic patterns, to techno gel seat cushions that provide cooling and heating, the LaBrea mobility system adheres to the adage “Adapt or Die.”

 Design Team: Alex Shen, Mike Kim, Joo Lee

About: Designed as the ultimate electric hyper-commuter vehicle, the Toyota “e-grus” specializes in long distance travel and minimal footprint city driving. Inspired by the resilient crane, e-grus can be driven autonomously, positioned at a full extension aero profile for efficiency and high speed stability much like a crane in flight. The dual mode shifts through an active metal surface that sends electric currents for a pliable skin that hardens once positioned vertically or horizontally.