5th Peugeot Design Contest
Theme: "Design a Peugeot for the megalopolis of the future"
The megalopolis of tomorrow...
When one thinks of the future metropolis, the first picture that comes to one's mind is the stressed, energic urban life - tight schedules, dense traffic, high rise buildings. But the future city experience is not just about this non-stopping frenzy. It is also about escape, leisure and family.
The Concept
The new Peugeot Metropole is designed for the hard working familiy that likes to let go of the stress when they have a chance. Weekends, for example, are a perfect opportunity to spend quality time with the kids - go for a walk or have a pic-nic in the outskirts.
The MPV bodystyle provides the medium/large family the space, flexibility and sustainability it needs.
The Car
The Metropole has approximately 80% glazed surface, making it possible to have full visibility and road experience. The roof glass uses liquid crystal opacification and can be adjusted with the touch of a button, if less luminosity is desired.
Two large sliding doors open in opposite directions, letting the outside completely in, enhancing the experience of the MPV, not only while it is in motion, but also when stopped.
The maximum number of seats is 7, but the flexibility of the Metropole allows several seat configurations - for example, 4 seats facing eachother with a small table in the middle, or create more cargo space by folding away the second and third rows of seats.
Traffic in the city can be very stressing sometimes, so the Metropole has two storage spaces in the back, accessible from the outside, designed to carry one Segway "Human Transporter" each - you can leave your Metropole in a parking building and move around the city in your "Human Transporter".
The Metropole is equipped with "drive-by-wire" technology, which allows the steering wheel to be assigned either to the left or the right seat in the front row. This can be done by unlocking the position of the steering wheel head, which is attached to the central command unit through an articulated arm that becomes flexible when the "unlock" button is pressed. The head can then be positioned in front of the other seat and locked again. This is particularly useful to exchange drivers without having to get out of the vehicle or jump from one seat to another.
Sustainability
The Peugeot Metropole is designed with several integrated systems that make it environmentally friendly:
The whole interior rests on a flat platform that stretches from one end to another. Beneath it a Hydrogen Fuel Cell powered engine can be found. With no internal combustion engines, the Metropole is a CO2 emission-free vehicle.
The glass roof has an integrated Photovoltaic Solar Panel. The energy obtained through this panel can be used to operate electronic equipment as well as a supplement for the engine.
The PV panel also works as a solar shade, even when the opacity of the roof glass is set to "off", because of its translucid result.
The whole interior surface contributes to the optimization of thermal comfort inside the car through the use of micro-encapsulated Phase Change Materials (PCM's).
Water, for instance, freezes at 0ºC, releasing energy (i.e. heat) in the process. The reverse happens when it melts again - it absorbs energy in order to change its state. PCM's also have freezing/melting points, but located around 24ºC and 30ºC, depending on its specifications. As the interior temperature of the Metropole drops below the freezng point of the PCM, it releases heat to stabilize the temperature. The PCM absorbs the energy again if the interior temperature rises above its melting point, avoiding too high, and uncomfortable, temperatures.
The use of this nano-technology partially substitutes other climatization systems, such as air-conditioning, thus saving energy for engine performance and mileage.
(more about PCM's na Wikipedia )
All this advanced sustainable technology, working together with efficient and friendly design, make the Peugeot Metropole the perfect choice for the future urban family.
2nd Seat/Automagazine Design Contest
Theme: "Lifestyle"
Hyperspace (noun) : dimension where conventional spatio-temporal relations do not apply.
The new Seat Hyperspace opens the doors to a new dimension in automotive design.
In nowadays, our attitude in life can vary rather frequently, making it hard for a car to meet demands that are constantly changing, according to the situation we face.
The Hyperspace has a powerful hybrid fuel/electric engine, and is shaped with agressive and flowing lines, to meet the need for power and speed. However, it can lock both rear and front doors to become a single door which can be opened upwards and rearrange the seats, transforming the interior in a kind of deck, for leisure and family.
The completely glazed roof maximizes the interior and can be opened, if a convertible is desired.
Hyperspace is all about opening to serveral dimensions, regardless of the present time and space.
The doors of the Hyperspace normally open from the center...
... but can also open upwards, creating a kind of "deck cover"
the glazed roof can retract completely in the back, turning the Hyperspace into a leisure-oriented car.
2nd Peugeot Design Contest
Theme: design the Peugeot of your dreams
Also known as the Desert Lynx, the Caracal is a powerful medium-sized cat with long legs that weighs up to 70 kg, stands about 50 cetimeters at the shoulder and has an overall body length of about 1,3 meters.
It is able to take down and kill prey species over twice its body weight.
Normally active in the late day, and throughout the night, the caracal hunts rodents, birds, reptiles and other small mammals which make up most to the diet.
It runs like a cheetah, and can leap 2 meters into the air to knock down birds.
The design of the new Peugeot Lynx is inspired by the image of the Caracal, which is visible at first through the shape of the headlights - its eyes have a narrow black line that runs from the corner of the eye to the nose; as well as the rear-view camera holder that stretch along the high density glass roof - the Caracal's long and narrow ears tipped with long black tufts of black hair.
Furthermore, the strong-bodied attitude of the Peugeot Lynx and its curved body sides resemble a Caracal dashing off at high speed to hunt the prey.
The Peugeot Lynx has an agressive two-tone body paint in black and white that brings the visual weight of the design closer to the ground yet unites the design of the car and fragments it at the same time, making the whole seem lighter and more elegant.
The new Peugeot Lynx is a four-seater compact single-volume vehicle with an overall lenght of 4,45 meters and a wheelbase of 2,60 meters. Its height is 1,80 meters and it has a maximum height of 2,75 meters with doors open.
There are no conventional rear-view mirrors. Instead, the Lynx is equipped with three high-resolution cameras: two are located in each camera holder on each side of the car, on the glass roof; and one in the back, concealed behind a small strip of dark glass, above the word "Peugeot". The three images are then combined and displayed in the upper dashboard screen as a single panoramic image. The third stop light is placed in the recess of the hood, between the rear lights, emphasizing the difference between the two tones of the body.
Connected to an automatic sequential gearbox operated from the steering wheel, a hybrid gas/electric engine is located in the back of the car, delivering clean power to its rear wheels. There is, nevertheless, boot volume above the engine and also in the front. 
A single long door on each side gives access to both front and back seats, which opens first by sliding away perpendicularly from the car and then rotating upward around a pivot just above the front wheel. The lower glass section of the doors increase cockpit visibility and lightness, while stressing the agressiveness of the body design.
The interior is dark-grey plastic mixed with beige leather. The central touch sensitive LCD screen provides information concerning the Global Position of the vehicle, constant electronic monitoring of vital components, fuel and battery levels and recharging, air temperature and air conditioning functions, ambient sound, among other useful reports and options.
The Lynx Logo can be found on several spots, such as seat backs, and also in the exterior, near the front wheels.
The Peugeot of my dreams for the near future has ground-breaking design and technology, with a matching feline and agressive look.
5th Peugeot Design Contest
