In our world of technology, we often tend to question ourselves what is left for humans to invent? That is a wrong perception, and certain individuals, from time to time, have proved that even though all the elements of nature’s force have been identified and utilized so far, man can still achieve for higher innovative programs and concepts. One such genius is Fernando Ocana, an automotive designer, who although does not take himself seriously always questions the automobile and his relationship with it.

Even he submits to the fact that he too looks for inspirations but forever tries to communicate and develop his personal ideas. His latest marvel concept is based on the study of a vehicle that shall be capable of achieving a reduced carbon footprint without the concerns of having to drive a small car. It is basically a design that vouches on the idea of exploration of the flexibility of the skin and structure for the driver’s benefit in terms of functional attributes.

The problems generally associated with driving small cars pertain to lack of adequate interior space and lack of presence on the exterior. And most customers neglect the impending problem of increasing footprints by opting for larger cars, but now Fernando has raised a very basic but noteworthy question: why not extract the benefit of both large and small?

Today’s products are flexible in nature as they cater to the personal tastes and preferences of different customers. And this flexible car concept is not the first of its kind; even BMW has done it before. This project takes on the task of exploring flexibility of a vehicle’s skin as a way to improve the efficiency without compromising on the customer’s taste buds.

Fernando mentions that the initial designs were inspired from the French concept of parkour, i.e., how the traceur’s body tackles each obstacle according to their merit. Thus he arrived at the possibility of latex as the best element for the body design, thus also improving aero-dynamic efficiency. But when the relevancy of the concept was argued, it caused frictions and the development was judged as not meeting vehicle’s functional and security requirements.

And this obstacle made him aware of the blessings of communication in the design process. So, ultimately, he came up with technical innovations in the form of in-hub electric motors, structural batteries, electro-active memory polymers, and much more to add the extra value to the USP of the vehicle. Finally, his efforts paid dividends when CITROËN commended their project. And not only that, Fernando, now with the blessings of communication abilities, believed in himself further more than ever.

Designer: Fernando Ocana

Source: AutoMotto.com