The designs of the future are here today and were on display at the 2018 Paris Motor Show to give us a tantalizing glimpse of what we think our future is going to look like.
Not surprisingly, these conceptual designs typically see drastic modification and mellowing down provided they even make it to production, but the offerings at convention-level exhibitions like this give a good glimpse into our future as is projected by the people who shape them (literally). According to Motor Trend, There were no boundaries; a range of cars from throwback-‘70s nostalgia to blisteringly high-tech looking autonomous pods littered the display area with gleaming body panels and shimmering.
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Although we’ve heard it preceding every major automotive exhibition in history, this is truly the time to find amazing leaps in technology that meet and exceed the expectations we’ve had for the automobile since decades past. We all thought cars would be flying by the year 2000. Then, in 2000 when we still weren’t flying, it was to be in 2010. One and a half years from 2020, we still aren’t any closer to foreseeable flight as personal transportation — but other advances in technology will blow your mind into a twilight zone by the physical prototypes that have turned a hypothetical possibility into a tangible reality.
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One of these mind blowers is notably a forerunner in "progressive" thought that isn’t building a car for today — they’re building a car for tomorrow. The tomorrow in reference is circa 2030 and according to the DS Automobile website, their dream for tomorrow is “…A car that’s as ‘light as a feather’ and as ‘silent as a breeze,’ forged by its creators’ vision for people who are passionate about cars.” Despite the cliché PR word crafting, they put their money where the dye meets the metal and what they’ve built kicks gravel all over the Prius legacy you’ve been growing accustomed to.
A 1,360hp circuit mode allows drivers to achieve “unrivaled response” as DS claims. More interesting, however, is the asymmetric, three-seat concept with the left half of the car being an open cockpit; forward and aft seats on the right-hand side are in an enclosed canopy. The concept is also alleged to be capable of recovering its original shape after a frontal impact; the list of must-sees for this car seems endless.
Another show-stopper couldn’t reform its bumpers after collisions but was a refreshing concept compared to the long line of disappointment from lackluster design of electric-based autonomy. While competitors aim to maximize the utility that can be squeezed from a lightweight construction and thin plastics, Peugeot has its own idea of the future – and that idea happens to be the modern interpretation of the 1969 504 Coupe. The E-Legend wraps the latest technology around a minimalist interior rivaled by few and packages it inside a throwback-styled boxy coupe that begs for attention. Prepare to welcome a shift as historic as the jet age as humankind stretches out legs in a broad, new horizon.