Your next car could be from Dior, Ikea, or even Coleman

In case you’ve missed it — the automotive industry is undergoing disruption.

It’s not hard to see why.

Electric cars are on track to be cheaper to produce than their internal combustion counterparts by 2027.

Batteries should hit the target of $80/Kwh by 2030 — the new magic number for mass-market adoption.

On average, the drivetrain in an Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicle contains 2,000+ moving parts; an EV just 20. And it takes around 6.2hrs to build an ICE engine — an EV motor only 3.7hrs (and the production lines are getting shorter).

Even the initial Research & Design stage is witnessing a revolution that will see the pre-manufacturing step drop from 5 years to months.

There will be an inflection point within the current decade, with key indicators pointing to EVs soon becoming the dominant transport tech.

But the most interesting characteristic of this EV transition isn’t their diminishing manufacturing and running costs but the potential for creative designs their simplicity affords.

If you don’t have to worry about the placement of gearboxes, fuel tanks or transmission tunnels, you have a far greater opportunity to be creative.

You don’t need to go far to find wacky ideas that even Brains from the 1960s Thunderbirds would be proud of.

Walking cars, road-ready wheelchairs, a trailer that follows you, even the ubiquitous flying car — almost anything is possible.

As EV components continue to standardise, how a car is built will have more in common with lego — a bunch of interchangeable parts that you put together in any way you want.

With the complexity removed that has kept vehicle design firmly in the realm of industrial engineers, designers will have far greater freedom to reinvent and reimagine the humble car.

If you’re a budding EV manufacturer, why wouldn’t you partner with iconic design houses to create limited editions for niche markets?

Need a mobile desk for the daily commute to the office?

Say hello to the Ikea home office on wheels.

Going on a camping holiday?

Send the Autonomous Coleman RV ahead to drive to the location and set up before you arrive.

Love luxury living?

Travel in style with a Dior town car that makes a statement when you arrive.

A few have tried already.

Uk’s iconic Dyson design company tried and gave up (a little too soon) after getting bogged down in the details of not quite ready standard components.

After importing old school mindsets, Apple’s Project Titan was destined for a similar fate after hiring ex-automotive executives. However, a recent radical change in direction flags Apple returning to what it’s good at — Design. Leaving the engineering of low margin standardised components to lesser companies.

Soon others will follow Apple’s lead, creating transport Pods and semi-autonomous vehicles to get us places in style or change the way we related to our regular commute.

The next few years are going to be an exciting time for cars.