Pollution-eating Car Shown Off At Goodwood Festival

Pollution-eating car shown off at Goodwood Festival

At the Goodwood Festival of Speed, a car designed to clean the air as it drives was unveiled.

The Airo, designed by British designer Thomas Heatherwick, is expected to enter production in China in 2023, with a goal of producing a million units.

The radical design aims to address not only pollution, but also to assist in resolving the "space crisis."

Critics are skeptical that it will ever be more than a concept vehicle.

Mr Heatherwick is best known for architectural projects such as Google's headquarters in California and London, despite the fact that he designed London's new version of the iconic Routemaster bus.

He told the BBC that despite his lack of experience designing automobiles, he was intrigued by the brief.

"When I was a child, design values were expressed through automobiles; whether it was the [Ford] Sierra in the 1980s or the [Fiat] Panda in the 1990s, some significant ideas were emerging through automobiles.

"When IM Motors in China approached us, we explained that we were not car designers, and they responded, 'That is why we want you.'"

The car, which was unveiled for the first time at the Shanghai motor show in April, features a large glass roof and an interior designed to resemble a room, complete with adjustable chairs that convert into beds and a central table for meetings or meals.

The dashboard conceals the steering wheel, and the exterior is textured with a series of ripples or ridges.

"While automakers are rushing to produce electric vehicles, a new electric vehicle should not simply be another one with a different look," Mr Heatherwick explained.

Along with reflecting airflow over the car with the ridged exterior, the front grill will feature an air filter that will "collect a tennis ball's worth of particulate matter per year," he told the BBC.

"That may not sound like much, but consider how a tennis ball in your lungs contributes to air purification, and with a million vehicles in China alone, that adds up."

Embedding this technology is "the next stage of development," he explained. It will be capable of operating in both autonomous and driver-controlled modes.

"I cannot see how this car will make any significant contribution to resolving the numerous problems associated with car ownership and use," Peter Wells, professor of business and sustainability at Cardiff Business School's centre for automotive industry research, told the BBC.

"This car's contribution to cleaning the air in our polluted urban areas would be so negligible as to be impossible to quantify.

"This is immediately apparent when the volume of air likely to pass through the car's filtration system is compared to the total volume of air."

New room?

The second major concept driving the design of the car is to provide an alternative space for owners to use.

"Covid has exacerbated the global space crisis. Many of us live in apartments and houses and require additional space, such as an office or a study," Mr Heatherwick explained.

With one billion automobiles on the road for roughly 10% of the time, there is potential for them to become "valuable real estate," he said.

He was influenced by first-class airline seats, which are used for "sleeping, eating, entertaining, and working."

"When the car is not in use, it becomes a communal space."

The vehicle will cost around £40,000, which Mr Heatherwick described as "reasonably luxurious."

Prof Wells is doubtful that it will be built in its current configuration.

"The automobile industry has a long history of generating excitement around concept cars, but the transition to production - if it occurs at all - typically results in the exciting features being replaced by something more mundane, manufactureable, practical to use, and cost-effective."

"This is not a fantasy," Mr Heatherwick stated emphatically. "The whole point was that it would not be a concept car, which is why we partnered with a manufacturer and focused exclusively on feasible concepts."

He did admit, however, that the design "may simplify somewhat" once it is put into production.