Should We Explore Modular Vehicles More?

Join daily news updates from CleanTechnica on electronic mail. Or follow us on Google News!

Once we have a look at the automotive market, it’s clear that each area of interest is served by at the very least one car. Now we have bikes, small vehicles, massive sedans, small crossovers, medium crossovers, massive crossover, SUVs of all sizes, and vehicles of all sizes. Why so many various automobiles? As a result of everybody desires to have the appropriate instrument for the job, even when their thought of the job they’re doing is slightly off at occasions.

However wants change not solely as we undergo life, however even from everyday. For instance, we begin out younger and single and won’t even want a automobile, then have a household, after which the children develop up. Individuals change careers and generally pull a Brady Bunch and add a number of youngsters to their family all on the similar time. A automobile that’s appropriate for the day by day commute may completely suck on Saturday when it comes time to go get stuff from Residence Depot for the yard or different dwelling enchancment challenge. Even in the middle of sooner or later, you may get an surprising name to select another person’s youngsters up or do one thing you hadn’t deliberate on in any respect.

One factor that actually received me to excited about this just lately was making an attempt to see if there’s a great way to go nomadic. I won’t be capable of pull it off this 12 months because of household composition and obligations, however I’d like to have the ability to hit the street and see plenty of locations whereas working remotely. Motorhomes are cool, however while you get the place you’re going, they’re form of massive for exploring close by. Some folks tow slightly automobile or truck behind, whereas different folks use a pickup to drag at trailer, permitting them to unhook and rightsize their car on the fly. Different folks haul alongside e-bikes and scooters for that.

Some folks even construct custom homes that can serve as a “dock” for big RVsusing the RV as a part of the residing house as a substitute of letting the car’s house go unused between holidays, so the modular thought can lead to the wedding of building and manufacturing!

Automobile corporations have been experimenting with taking this concept of modularity and going extra wild with it for a very long time. I imply, who wouldn’t like to have the ability to drive an environment friendly automobile to work after which solely add some elements to it just for these uncommon days? It could be nice to have extra versatility and not using a second and third automobile cost, insurance coverage premium, and upkeep prices, proper?

One of many extra notable examples of this concept was the Chrysler Voyager III idea from the 1990 Chicago Auto Present. The car by no means made it to manufacturing, and even had what seems like a observe within the flooring to make sure the whole lot traces up throughout demonstrations (one thing people can battle with), however the general thought of utilizing 4 cylinders for commuting and including one other 4 cylinders for hauling the household round on demand reveals that this modular method may work for rightsizing on the fly.

Different producers experimented with body panels and modules that a driver could swap out in the garage. For instance, a small automobile may function a convertible, sedan, hatchback, tiny pickup truck, or crossover SUV simply by altering out some elements. On the excessive finish of this may be “skateboard” automobiles the place you may swap out the entire physique for one thing else that higher fits altering wants.

Few folks would need to pay for the entire totally different modules up entrance, although. It might be attainable to supply swapping as a service, hire out the much less used modules at sellers, and even let folks commerce of their present modules towards a special one for the service division to swap out if it’s one thing advanced.

This concept hasn’t gone away. Simply this 12 months, Kia confirmed off some idea automobiles that had modular options like this:

Whereas not proven till towards the tip of the video, the PBV’s swappable module system reveals how versatile EVs are in a position to be. As an alternative of getting to “dock” or do one thing that’s mainly a trailer, automobiles able to pulling as much as an automatic station of some form to get a special again may change their total character in seconds. That is all enabled by the compact and versatile nature of EV drive techniques, which might really be contained in a skateboard and saved out of the best way of modular flexibility.

Why This Thought Is Nice

From an environmental perspective, modular automobiles and even modular dwelling/car setups are nice as a result of the quantity of producing wanted to attain the identical targets is smaller. Vitality is saved. Much less issues are mined. Automobiles keep helpful for longer and will even be repaired extra simply, resulting in even much less vitality use and mining wanted. Together with all of this flexibility to do extra with much less comes decrease prices.

The opposite factor this may serve in human nature is our tendency to get hooked up to issues. Even when you’re sick of one thing like a home or a car or it now not serves your wants nicely, it will probably nonetheless be slightly unhappy to go away it behind. Modular approaches can flip that human trait into a bonus as a substitute of a weak spot. Some folks may select to maintain one car their entire life, swapping out elements and modules over time just like the Ship of Theseus or the automobile in the Johnny Cash song One Piece at a Time.

Why It Hasn’t Taken Off

The factor that has saved corporations from doing that is {that a} modular car tends to be a jack of all trades. That’s a superb factor till you contemplate the second half of that idiom: grasp of none. A car platform that’s good for a pickup truck wouldn’t make a superb sports activities automobile simply since you swap the physique out, for instance.

Electrical drive techniques assist with this considerably, as the whole lot from the motors to the software program to the suspension can now alter fairly a bit to behave otherwise beneath totally different our bodies. However, there are bodily limits to that adaptability. Issues like wheelbase size, general battery capability, and most suspension load restrict swap-ability to automobiles already in the identical class. In some methods, we already see this with issues like cutaway vans and chassis cabs utilized in medium-duty vehicles.

Developing with methods round these limitations would positive unlock a whole lot of flexibility, price financial savings, and environmental friendliness, although.

Featured picture by Kia.