Auto Design

“the 2009 electric car slots into this process and will benefit of some of the styling and technological ideas presented in Sintesi.”

Andrea Pininfarina, March 2008.

The Show Car.

Sintesi is Pininfarina’s futuristic concept that explores new territories for designers who -being free of the constrains of a bulky internal combustion engine – can organise the sources of energy and motion for the automobiles of the future in a different way.

In the Sintesi the engine has been replaced by four electric motors integrated in the four wheels and powered by four fuel cells installed close to the wheels. Indeed, Sintesi could have been any type of car but Pininfarina designers opted for a sleek, very aerodynamic (Cx is 0,27), four-seater, four-door coupé.

Sitting on a very long wheelbase, just 10mm. shorter of the 3 metres barrier, Sintesi surprises for its new proportions and may take more than a minute to come to term with her size, her personality and her style.

Such an innovative concept could not to without a radical body architecture as well. The body design is complex, rational and emotional at the same time. Very functional both in engineering terms and as a show-car designed to attract interest and win approval; starting from the spectacular four doors that open vertically to deliver comfortable access to the four separate seats and to allow a perfect vision of the superlative interior design.

Through its language, the body clearly speaks of dynamic performance, of a sport character and of outstanding aerodynamics, despite it is not the typical attribute of a car with a big engine at the front or at rear. Do not look for the conventional headlamps. They too are part of the flowing and uninterrupted shape of body.

The soft and linear surfaces of the body continue inside the very large, light and airy interior where – at long least – we are presented with something that makes a lot of sense. The dashboard is replaced by a white cloud onto which all information appears on demand, or when needed. This is very light and airy while leaving a lot of space to the occupants. Virtually every component in the cabin seems to be floating.

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Materialise

The “dashboard” unit is made of a single piece of translucent PP-like epoxy (Poly1500). It has been produced its full width on a Mammoth SLA machine by Belgian company Materialise. This company has also supplied the complex radiator also a “one piece” unit made of the recently introduced resin ProtoGen White, suitable for general purpose applications with ABS-like specifications. Air intakes have also been made of the stereo lithography material Tusk2700.

Control panels, roof antenna, remote controller, roof light cover and speaker grills have all been made by RP&M in Poly1500 resin.

“Here forms are created around man.” Explains Giuseppe Randazzo Chief Designer in charge of Sintesi, who adds:  “The idea is to wrap the human element up in soft, fluid space: it starts from the windscreen crosses the dash and floor, traverses the seats and slips down into the four doors which open upwards.”

However, it would be a big mistake not to look beyond the stunning appearance of this concept car, as there is a lot more (or less) to discover.

Lowie Vermeersch, director of design at Pininfarina, stresses there is more of near future thinking that actually explains the design of the car. “ We have not only designed the skin of Sintesi, but we began from the heart, the muscles and brain to create a completely new object, to explore the likely scenarios of the car industry in the years to come. Everything began with some interesting discussions about what role the new technologies like fuel cells and batteries would play in the project. This gave us a precise understanding of the approach we would adopt: not to consider the car as a form that covers mechanical parts and passengers, but rather to give form to the mechanical parts around the passengers and starting from the passengers. We have called this method “Liquid” Packaging and we have associated it with the use of a Fuel Cell drive train.”

There is no big V8 or V12 engine under the hood, but – integrated into the floor – is a tank for (conventional or biologic) fuel and the reformer that generates hydrogen for the fuel cells. This is the “power unit” and it is accommodated in-board, low at the centre of the car for increased protection, premium weight distribution and lower centre of gravity.

Sintesi is powered by four Nuvera fuel cells, each delivering a maximum of 20 kW electrical power, thus giving a total 80 kW for the whole vehicle

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The Concepts.

Stimulated by the changes forced upon the car industry worldwide by political and economic pressure, and taking advantage of recent innovations, Pininfarina is leading the comeback of Italian advanced design, creativity and style. If yesterday the main concern was global warming and CO2 emission, today the price of oil and the increasing value of energy call for lighter and yet safer cars. Cars that must be dramatically more energy efficient than ever, especially if we want theme to drive on non-fossil energy.

Times have come – or at least it appears to be close – for hybrid and electric cars to be increasingly relevant.

Pininfarina recently announced their plans to build and sell – at the rate of 15 thousand units per year – the first relevant Premium City car running purely on electric power by 2009, in association with the energy-packing specialists of the French Bolloré Group. The two companies have associated to create a compact and light four door, four passengers, Premium City car that is under development at Pininfarina. Designers and engineers are experiencing day by day the opportunities and the challenges this implies when it comes to efficiency, weight, safety, running costs and market appeal. The new ingredients provided the advanced materials and electronics offer the designers new opportunities and – at the same – set what they are eventually fully exploited.

According to Pininfarina CEO, Andrea Pininfarina,”The Sintesi project got going long before the agreement was signed with Bolloré”, stressing that there is not strict relation between the two. However, it is legitimate to think that the extensive research into futuristic innovations and technologies, in view of both projects, is benefitting both of them. Andrea actually conceded that “the 2009 electric car slots into this process and will benefit f some of the styling and technological ideas presented in Sintesi.”

To which extent can they be used to change the technique of our automobiles? Pininfarina Sintesi suggests the answer with an example of a new approach and of what it can lead to. To make the message attractive and convincing, Sintesi has been designed as a  concept-car that combines premium appeal with sportiness and functionality and with emotion and rationality.

Indeed the briefing and the project are very rational, whereas the architecture and the design are very emotional. As its name suggests, the latest Pininfarina show car, represents the synthesis of aims and opportunities.

In essence, the project aims at the lighter car of the future. A car that combines significantly reduced weight and increased safety through a completely new powertrain system and a new technical layout, new materials, new production tools and technologies, on one side. On the other side, it introduces an interactive communication system that (through Transparent Mobility) makes collision with other vehicles or obstacle virtually impossible, through a highly intelligent package of “active safety” features.

This approach to passenger safety, focusing on preventing collisions, rather than reducing their consequences through passive safety and heavier and heavier cars, is revolutionary but absolutely rational. It questions if the industry actually took the right direction when it had to face the infamous “crash tests”. A question never proposed so far.

Transparent Mobility consists of a wireless communication system that connects all vehicles on the road among themselves and with all information from the infrastructure, to form a “communication net” providing each vehicle with the information and the intelligence to make mobility safe and efficient. The system has its own “intelligence” but will not replace the driver, cutting in only in cases of danger. The vehicles intelligence is therefore used both by the driver and by the automated system managed by the car. This system is based on the Clancas, radio technology developed by Reicom, which allows the creation of a completely decentralized data-transmission networks

According to Pininfarina, the user interface will be highly intuitive, it will use a language made of lights and colours – created by Pi Shurlok – capable of being immediately understood by the driver with no signs or icons in the way.

Andrea Pininfarina states that “This futuristic scenario, based on existing technology, opens the door to advanced active safety solutions”, which will minimize the need for today’s bulky passive-safety systems.

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