Wooden #Setsuna Concept Car Is a Work of Art [Auto Styling News]

Toyota's Setsuna concept is made of wood. It's therefore a ridiculous concept, right? Well...

The Setsuna defies the notion that cars should only be seen as industrial products loaded with the latest technologies. 

Toyota says this unique wooden roadster was conceived to embody the affection owners grow to feel for their cars, and to show how cars continue to change and offer new value as they are taken care of with love over time.

Traditional Japanese techniques such as okuriari and kusabi were used so that the wood could be joined without nails or screws. Okuriari, which allows the exterior panels to be fitted and taken off without using any nails, not only increases the strength of joints but also makes it possible to make partial changes to dovetailing and mortise joints if the fastenings have worn down. 

This means it's possible to continue using the car without additional processing of the main body. In joints of the frame, split tenons are fastened to through tenons that have been pushed through several parts to hold the frame together. 

The Setsuna's body is composed of 86 handmade panels. Considerable thought was given to the design and creation of each panel from the outset, and each of these panels will develop and change differently as the car ages. Eventually, when repairs become necessary, individual panels can be replaced rather than needing to replace the entire body.

Small details, like the beautifully crafted wooden mirrors, really make this a work of art as much as a design study. The lacquer finish used on parts of the vehicle has been carefully applied by hand. To bring out the grain of the wood, wipe-lacquering has been used for the door mirrors, seats, steering wheel, and body banding lines. 

Rather than normal lacquer, which is applied in layers, this method involves repeatedly applying lacquer to the surface and wiping it to set the lacquer along the grain of the wood, creating a combined texture from the wood grain and the lacquer. The intensity and color will change with use over time, becoming even more beautiful and evoking a completely unique impression at different moments spread out in time.

Chinese LeSEE #Concept Car Hopes To Take On #Tesla [Auto Styling News]

Chinese entertainment and consumer technology company LeEco has unveiled its own self-driven electric car.

The futuristic-looking sedan called LeSEE was unveiled at a launch event in Beijing staged by LeEco. The current prototype model has a theoretical top speed of 130 miles an hour, said Ding Lei, head of LeEco’s automobile division, called the Super Electric Ecosystem unit.

The exterior design of the vehicle is indeed impressive. While somewhat Tesla-like it its rear haunches, nothing else resembles it, or in fact, anything, currently on the road. the large LED bar on the front apparently has functional headlights in there (or around it) somewhere, and the overall appearance is muscular and curvaceous.

In what Ding calls the "most beautiful" angle - from above and rear, shown below - one can see the full-glass roof which reaches from the hood to the trunk area. 

The launch featured a colorful mix of tech and entertainment, starting off with a performance by a popular Chinese singer and a demonstration of the tech company's virtual  reality headset device. Ding then delighted the crowd by using his cell phone to order the prototype to move on stage and park itself.

LeSEE was developed in 28 months, during which LeEco forged partnerships internationally to speed up the process.

Without providing technical specifications, Ding said the car will surpass the Model S from leading electric car maker Tesla in "all aspects of performance." That, of course, remains to be seen. But clearly this will, if it is built, be a challenger in the massive Chinese market.

#Toyota uBox Concept, Designed By, And For, #GenZ [Auto Styling News]

Toyota, in collaboration with graduate students at Clemson University's International Center for Automotive Research, have released what they think "Generation Z" will be driving in 10 years.

The "uBox concept" is a result of a two-year collaboration with Toyota Motor North America designers and engineers called "Deep Orange," and probably gives Toyota much needed feedback on what college-age future buyers have in mind when they enter the workforce and need transportation.

Most of Toyota’s North American vehicles are engineered in Southeast Michigan. The newest concept to wear the automaker’s famous badge, however, has its roots firmly planted in the red clay of South Carolina.

The program immerses students into every aspect of automotive development – from market research and design studies to engineering design and manufacturing.

"It's like automotive boot camp for the real world, and it wouldn’t happen without industry partners like Toyota," says Johnell Brooks, an associate professor in Clemson's graduate engineering program.

The typical customer for uBox is a young entrepreneur who wants a vehicle that can provide utility and recreation on the weekend but that can also offer office space or other career-centric or lifestyle uses during the week.

Close up of the front "buttresses" on the uBox concept.

The bold,  distinctive exterior design is meant to align with generation Z's personality trait to stand out, embodying a muscular stance that looks like it's sprung forward in motion, even when standing still. The rear side panel actually reminds one of the KIA Sportage, which is a good look.

The two "buttresses" on the front are like nothing seen on any car, and these alone set this vehicle apart, visually. Toyota officials say they were suitably impressed when students developed a unique pultrusion technique developed by the students that allows for these composite carbon fiber rails to be bonded with aluminum to support a curved glass roof.

They'd seem to cause an obstruction for the driver but, man, they do look bold, that's for sure. Of course if this is built as a self-driving car - and perhaps it should be - never mind that objection.

A versatile interior that can be rearranged for various activities, from working or operating a business, to hauling bulky cargo. A low floor allows for reconfigurable, removable seats on sliding tracks that can be nested. (How removable seats would make it through the rigorous safety protocols of an actual car company is unknown. But that hasn't stopped MANY concepts from imagining this before.)

Vents, dashboard display bezels and door trim that can be personalized and made with 3-D printing technology, and an online community is envisioned, where owners can share design ideas - and that is an extremely plausible scenario, given this interconnected generation's ease with social media.

The thing is powered by a compact, dual-purpose, all-electric powertrain and emission-free stationary energy to power consumer electronics, power tools or other devices through various 110-volt sockets located throughout the interior and exterior.

Meet the 2020 Apple iMaybe - Car & Driver's speculative mini-ute [Auto Styling News]

"Google the word 'Apple' and a link to the fruit we've consumed for thousands of years doesn't appear until page four." - that's Car and Driver magazine in its May, 2016 issue, preparing to describe it's speculative (and completely fictional, for now) 2020 Apple iMaybe mini-Ute.

The completely automated vehicle, which the magazine speculates would be built by BMW, would be heavily connected to the internet, via your iPhone 12, of course.

While it may take Apple some getting used to collaborating with another company (something C&D correctly notes it's never done before) the draw of the Apple name may not only be golden to consumers' ears, but also be like a steel girder to the magnet of their wallets.

The magazine again speculates that the cost of this mini-Ute could be north of $30,000, and wouldn't make an appearance until the 2020 model year.

(Photo is from the May 2016 issue of Car & Driver. Good luck finding an image online!)