ZURICH: Swiss automotive think tank Rinspeed is following a unique train of thought for its latest autonomous car concept set to make its global debut at the 2018 CES in Las Vegas this January.
The company that brought us transportation pods with window gardens and bonsai trees and sportscars with their own drones is back with a new concept car called "Snap". And, like every Rinspeed creation, it's potentially the first concept vehicle to explore future mobility and immobility needs.
And that's because the car's chassis can detach from its body, leaving it behind while the motorised element of the concept heads off again to collect a new body and offer a new service.
So, the Snap could be a mobile office and relaxation space then detach the office pod in a perfectly central location and then head back off to a depot or other area to be refitted as a delivery truck.
Its creator, Frank M. Rinderknecht, likens the concept to using a motorised skateboard as a trolley for transporting something too heavy to carry. Once it arrives at is destination, the skateboard can autonomously hit the road again. But the concept is more than just a quirky idea.
If all of the high-tech smarts that make a vehicle autonomous and capable of processing digital maps and finding its way around an urban environment are kept exclusive to the Snap concept's chassis, when its on-board processors and other tech are out of date, just that element of the vehicle will need updating.
The existing platform can be recycled and new ones measuring the same dimensions can hit the road instead and they will still be compatible with the myriad potential pods they can transport — be it a family road-trip pod, a food truck, an on-the-go office space, or a pop-up haute couture store.
Developed with assistance from two of the world's leading automotive and technological suppliers, including Harman International, Tom Tom, SAP and ZF, the Snap Concept will be on show from Jan 7-12 at the Las Vegas Convention and World Trade Center.
