Surely one of the most unusual-looking exhibits at the 2007 Detroit Auto Show was Ford's latest concept car, the Ford Airstream Concept. Picking up where 2004's Model U left off, the Airstream Concept is futuristic in some respects and deeply retro in others. In short, it's an odd mix - but elements in that mix show some real value for the future of the automobile.
In design terms, there are several different ideas at work in the Airstream Concept. The principal and most exciting of these is the 'HySeries Drive', a rechargeable electric engine that runs on hydrogen fuel cells, on show here for the first time.
Next to this cutting-edge technology, however, we have two further design influence that are almost vintage enough to be considered kitsch. The first is Airstream, the famous and ancient American trailer brand with which Ford collaborated on the project. And the second, strangely enough, is Stanley Kubrick's sci-fi masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey.
What follows is an attempt to understand these three rather different ideas.
The HySeries Drive
Hydrogen is one of several 'fuels of the future' currently being bandied-about by automotive engineers and car firms, but it has been held back so far for want of a suitably efficient delivery method.
It can currently be used in car engines (BMW have already produced a petrol/hydrogen hybrid vehicle, and many gas stations in Germany actually pump hydrogen), but the cost of doing so in terms of 'miles-per-unit' at the pumps means only the rich and eco-friendly actually buy any. And having said that, 'eco-friendly' is not a term which can be straightforwardly applied to hydrogen fuel.
While it's true that burning hydrogen is very clean, producing practically zero damaging emissions out of your exhaust pipe, the process of bottling the stuff requires a great deal of electrical energy. And unfortunately for the environment, that energy is usually provided by a fossil fuel-burning power station. In this respect, hydrogen-fuelled cars are often just as damaging as regular petrol ones - it's just that that damage is done elsewhere.
One answer to the problems with hydrogen would be to come up with a new storage medium and drivetrain, that between them are efficient enough to undercut regular old unleaded in terms of fuel economy. And with the HySeries Drive, Ford reckons it's done just that.
The drivetrain is powered by an electrical engine, similar to that used in conventional hybrid vehicles like the Honda Prius; but in this case electricity provides 100 percent of power to the wheels (the Prius, by comparison, switches back and forth from electric to petrol). And while it spends energy making the wheels go round, the battery behind that electrical engine is being re-charged by the aforementioned hydrogen fuel cell.
It might not sound like much, but using the hydrogen in this way means that the HySeries Drive can be 50 percent smaller and less complex than a conventional fuel cell system, and could potentially have more than double the lifetime. Even better, mounting it in the Airstream Concept (which is no supermini in terms of size and weight) produces the cost-equivalent of 41mpg.
Airstream trailers and 2001: A Space Odyssey
Stylistically, the car is an amalgamation of these two iconic looks. Its bulbous outer body shape and polished chrome paintjob are clearly a nod to the beautiful Airstream trailers of the 1950's, as are 12 'ceremonial' rivets placed at various points around the car. Then the designers have turned to Kubrick's 1968 space-fest for the shape of its asymmetrical windows, distinctive red-and-white upholstery and self-consciously 60's interior.
It all looks good in a retro kind of way, but what does this odd choice of muses actually say about the Airstream Concept - and the idea of the 'American Journey" at that?
The trailer is something of a mixed metaphor. On the one hand, it conjures up ideas of the restless wanderer, a person without roots or fixed abode - much like the first American settlers' westward journey to explore and colonise new parts of their undiscovered country. But at the same time, trailers have a different and more negative connotation. 'Trailer trash' is a symbol for ignorance and poverty in the states, and of people going nowhere rather than free-wheeling. Thus it can also be a pretty bleak image for the American Journey.
2001 provides similar puzzles. Scratch the surface and you'll know it's about new technological discoveries and an exciting era of space travel - exactly the kind of thing Ford is looking for. But beyond that, 2001 has some pretty scary predictions for the continuing American Journey. Think about it: Is HAL 9000 really a good role model for the cars of the future?
In its defence, however, the Ford Airstream Concept is primarily about showing-off the HySeries Drive. It's not a production model (we're not about to go out and get a car insurance quote for one), and reading too much into the trim is probably missing the point.
In any respect, the car looks promisingly futuristic in the drivetrain stakes, and the wait now is for the first HySeries models to hit Ford dealerships across the world.
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Author - Ranjit Kaur (Hoot Car Insurance) Cheap car insurance for UK drivers
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