Quite appropriate for Shanghai is this advanced, futuristic, and highly ambitious concept car from Chevrolet. The FNR Concept was developed by General Motor’s Pan Asia Technical Automotive Centre (PATAC) and is meant to preview what Chevrolet sees as the future of motoring. Clearly the designers have been watching too many sci-fi movies, which is no bad thing because just look at this thing.
It’s like a mishmash of every great sci-fi car from Tron, i-Robot, Back to the Future, and Blade Runner. Looking at this thing brings back memories of all the car doodles I did in my maths book at school. You just know whoever designed this car doesn’t know what a mortgage is or has ever seen a cardigan. Ever. The ‘capsule’ shape gives it a distinctive and futuristic look, while the ‘dragonfly’ dual swing doors add to the concept car wow factor. Those ridiculous wheels house magnetic electric motors complete with automatic wireless charging.
And the things they claim this can do are just as awe-inspiring. The aim for the design team was “to design a car unique vehicle for tomorrow’s younger consumers by utilizing innovative car networking technology”. For a start, or should I say to start it, there’s iris recognition. Fingerprint recognition is so 2014, the future is all about the iris. Unless you don’t have an iris, then starting it could be an issue.
As you’d expect there are very many sensors and radars. Called the Chevy Intelligent Assist, these sensors and radars are able to map out the environment around you to enable an auto-pilot mode. In auto pilot mode the front seats can swivel 180 degrees so you are able to have a more “intimate” motoring experience with your passengers. This feature could make road trips more entertaining by being able to do your own in car version of The Voice. Switching between auto pilot and ‘manual’ driving is done with gesture controls. There’s also a “Personal Assistant” to map out the best possible route, though this is something most cars have these days (sat nav).
The FNR (still not sure what it means, Futuristic Neo Roadcar?) is one of those concepts where the designers and engineers had some fun with. But would you like to see some of the FNR’s design and tech in cars of the future?
