E-mobility Technology Winter 2020

e-mobility Technology International | Vol 7 | Winter 2020
Jeremy White, Seymour Powell’s Director of
Transport continued “By leaning on our wealth of
experience within the aviation and rail industries,
we have designed Quarter Car with passenger
experience at the very core of its purpose as an
interior led vehicle, prioritising internal volume
over traditional aerodynamic design. The space
is defined by retractable partitions through
two central axes of the vehicle, which allow the
segmentation of the interior into four individual
and sellable ‘spaces’, giving service providers
the ability to address the needs of a variety of
passengers simultaneously within one vehicle.”
The interior partitions would allow passengers to
book an individual quarter to themselves for a
private journey. Alternatively, friends, colleagues
or couples can book spaces face to face or side by
side, with the potential to hire the whole vehicle
and enjoy a convivial ride with a group. Booking
spaces in partially full vehicles, as well as waiting
longer for your pick up, will be incentivised to
ensure the occupancy rate is always as high.
Quarter Car also enables additional revenue
streams for mobility service providers through the
application of in-car digital technology such as
transparent glazing displays, gestural interaction
capability and artificial intelligence. These provide
operators with the tools they need to create a
cutting edge, personalised and engaging digital
experience. Depending on the service provider,
customers could have the option of cost premium,
ad-free journeys, while cheaper rides will contain
curated and contextually aware advertising.
Passengers might also choose to pay for tailored
digital experiences for purposes ranging from
entertainment, retail and education, which could
include descriptive educational content of famous
landmarks, or entertaining video content tailorable
to the passenger’s requests.
Interior Volume vs
Aerodynamics
Quarter Car is delibaritely monolithic in its exterior
design, choosing interior volume over slick
aerodynamics by leveraging underfloor electric
architecture packaging to reduce the overall
footprint whilst also increasing the perception of
interior space.
We can justify this volume change by speculating
that we may view aerodynamic efficiency through
a different lens by the time Level 4/5 autonomous
vehicles arrive. Quarter Car will be a Battery Electric
Vehicle using clean energy to operate inbetween
urban and suburban environments at relatively low
speeds. Aerodynamic efficiency will not be the way
we define the shape of this vehicle, rather, improved
passenger experience will lead to efficiency gains
through increased vehicle occupation levels
Spaces Not Vehicles
By prioritising this drive towards interior volume,
a vehicle’s interiors can be led by domestic and
interior influences, enabling them to be considered
as moving ‘spaces.’ We will change the way we spend
our time in them, which we believe will lead to a
host of corporations, previously unattached to the
mobility world, becoming interested in staking their
claim, in order to broaden their brand portfolio and
open up new revenue streams.
“We speculate that this type of vehicle could attract
a range of new mobility players, from boutique
hoteliers providing luxury, mobile spaces to their
guests or even co-working ventures looking to
assist in fulfilling the productivity potential in the
gaps between work and home, or even an airline
offering a door to door ticketing service; expanding
their business class offering across multimodal
touchpoints.” Jonny expained.
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