Pininfarina’s New Concept Car Looks Like It’s Straight Out of a Videogame
Pininfarina has released a new concept car called Teorema, which channels the all-electric self-driving car of the future, complete with a streamlined exterior and a modular interior that can be adapted for all-night driving.
In a press statement from Pininfarina, the famous car designer explains how the new concept was developed by using VR technologies, for “an all-new interpretation of fully electric, autonomous mobility in the name of user experience and technology.”
Though the exterior of the Teorema concept is a sight to behold — it looks strikingly like a car from the sci-fi videogame Cyberpunk 2077 — Pininfarina designers at Cambiano and Shanghai set the car’s interior as their focal point.
Passengers enter the vehicle thanks to a rear panel that slides upwards and outwards letting them walk to their seats. The design makes entering the Teorema “not much different than entering a living room,” Pininfarina says.
Modifiable partitions allow for privacy if needed, while seats can be greatly adapted either for sitting up straight or for lying horizontally in a sleeping position. The 212-inch (540-cm) long Teorema has an unusual layout of one front seat and two rows of back seats, which can be adapted to essentially make two beds.
Sculpting a modifiable interior for a self-driving future
The Teorema also utilizes a modular Benteler Electric Drive System (BEDS), whose rolling chassis allows it to have ample interior space while remaining low to the ground.
The concept car has separate drive modes, allowing for different levels of autonomy. At the highest is Level 5 autonomy mode, in which the driver can turn around and face and interact with the other passengers on board.
In drive mode, the driver uses two joysticks to control the vehicle, and passengers can keep an eye on trip information via an augmented reality system called WayRay that is integrated into the car’s smart glass canopy.
Currently, car manufacturers are capable of making Level 2 autonomy, and, as Tesla CEO Elon Musk has admitted Level 5 autonomy is proving to be a harder ask than anticipated, we’re likely a long way off from seeing anything like the Pininfarina Teorema becoming a reality.
Still, at a time when auto shows have been hampered by pandemic restrictions, and futuristic car concepts have been fewer and farther between, it almost makes us nostalgic to see Pininfarina hit us with a concept that looks like it’s from a videogame set in the far future.
