Comments on: TERREFORM’S SOFT CAR

By: jimagic

jimagic — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 00:20:09 +0000

As a consumer friendly baby step safety transition, even with IC powered cars, why not external airbags with very fast motion detector (and speed compensation) technology. I wouldn’t mind yellow and black diagonal stripes for visibility or at least scotch brite finishes. We need to get over the whole idea of our cars as extensions of our personalities and see them as tools. Comfortable, yes, safe, yes, efficient,yes. Conversly, ponder on Neil Young’s idea of using existing body styles and features, but design better engines for existing product lines or even older models. He has converted his land yaught into an eco friendly demo.

By: rhuben50

rhuben50 — Mon, 03 May 2010 03:26:27 +0000

This is all very interesting but what is the real agenda?
The presentation sounds good and never mentions the Economic Social and Political effects; so do you think we’re all anti-capitalists and Treehuggers?

By: fiberist

fiberist — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 21:15:41 +0000

Soft car, yes. Car share, no. Some care for property – others do not. Universal training in responsible sharing and consideration of property must precede property share.

By: Erik van Lennep

Erik van Lennep — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 10:10:46 +0000

I dunno, I like the idea of cars being able to negotiate with parking meters and with each other, I like the idea of dropping the heavy shell as well.

I agree the presentation doesn’t address fuel, nor vandalism, theft. etc. But why not take iot a few steps further and see how these might be solved? It’s good to think outside the box, so rather than condemning designers for not being rooted in reality (whose?), I would prefer to say, “hey interesting direction, now what about factors _, or __? ” .

I do think in Ireland the soft car would last as long as it takes the next yob to spot it sitting defenseless on the street. I wonder how fast it can be set on fire, robbed, sliced up, or otherwise mangled? But I am also willing to believe there may be communities where softcars would be respected and left undamaged.

One of the concepts I think we really need to get away from is the silver bullet, the “one” answer that will meet all needs, or solve all problems. If we are to learn anything from natural systems, and apply this to sustainability, we need to get more comfortable with locally derived and locally applied solutions. They may not solve everything, but why not see wher they might fit into a more complex pattern of solution directions?

By: Jack73t

Jack73t — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 19:38:53 +0000

Perhaps it could be constructed of recycled tires. Being light weight would make it a prime candidate for electric power or maybe even pure solar power. I like the one that looks like a shoe.

By: royalestel

royalestel — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 14:58:08 +0000

I read somewhere about an experiment where University of Colorado at Boulder gave a bunch of indentical yellow bikes to the student population with the idea that you could ride one to class, drop it off, and just pick up another one on the way out.

There began to be problems after wear and tear set in. A bike in good corking condition would be locked up and people started customizing them. Other damaged bikes were just dumped where they broke as the riders had no incentive to move them.

I expect similar problems with a car system as you’ve described. An aggressive maintenance policy would be necessary, it seems.

By: Clara

Clara — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 11:04:14 +0000

It’ll be nice if areas more prone to damages due to common road accidents could be helped with a rubber or soft covering the exterior car body.

By: J

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 20:41:09 +0000

“softcar” just sounds way too utopian. a fun exercise, cute drawings…but doesn’t address all the real problems with cars. the big big big issue with cars is how they operate – the combustable engine running on fossil fuels. there’s no mention in this article at all about how the softcar will be powered, and thats the major vice against cars. also, a car made of softer materials will be much easier to break into and looted or stolen. I like the ingenuity and the unorthodox thinking…but ultimately I think designers need to come back to reality at some point.