Ecofitting changes the perspective of electrification and retrofitting beyond classic cars and considers cars from 1980 onwards thereby substantially expanding the potential environmental impact.
This project innovates by venturing into alternative approaches to vehicle design, which are well respected and explored in architecture (retrofitting, renovation), more experimental in product design (upcycling) and more meaningful in traditional craft (Kintsukuroi), but far less so in vehicle design. At the same time, opens vehicle design to more sustainable practices.
It proposes understanding vehicles as platforms that can be updated and customised promoting long-term ownership and changing the way new cars will be designed in future.
The Sustainable Design Orienting toolkit was expanded to a quadruple bottom line, including Subjective Sustainability.

Links

"Ecofitting - whole-life design upgrading cars to zero emissions" Full report

Executive Summary

Ecofitting project explored the development of novel design directions to expand the trends of converting ICE cars into electric vehicles (EV) as an additional strategy towards zero-emission mobility. The feasibility study identified a stakeholder’s landscape and their potential roles and activities; produced a State-of-the-Art of material culture trends in alternative approaches to automotive design, more aligned to the expectations of next generation consumers; classified current trends in conversion of ICE into; compared ICE, EV and Ecofitting strategies through a sustainable design perspective (quadruple bottom line); and produced design provocations to visualise the possibilities of Ecofitting.
The project findings indicate that there are promising opportunities for developing automotive design differently, with designers connecting to users to update their cars, and users reconnecting emotionally to their cars; there are opportunities for alternative suppliers and SME to become part of the automotive ecosystem providing more sustainable solutions; there are opportunities to develop new products to be incorporated as usability and technology updates; there is a need to develop an online platform to facilitate Ecofitting and inform responsible consumer choices on upgrades; there is need to establish policies to certificate and incentivise Ecofitting; finally, Ecofitting is an effective sustainable solution which respects emotional and cultural values of cars, promotes long-term ownership and can change how cars will be designed in the future.

Ecofitting Landscape (Click to expand)

Key Findings

1) Car design has developed an aesthetic of perfection, which is represented by the sleekness of surfaces, thinness of the joint between panels of metal or plastic, the shininess of the chromes, sharpness of edges, or even the noise of closing doors. These are not aligned with the taste of new generations and are too costly to maintain. This creates an opportunity to Ecofitting to develop a more environmentally conscious aesthetic.

2) The Sustainable Design Orienting toolkit analysis highlighted Ecofitting’s benefits related to long-term ownership, waste and resource reduction, local production and wider distribution of opportunities, promotion of local culture, communities and responsible consumption, promotion of an aesthetic of sustainability, valorisation of personal identity and deeper values.

Project Team

Dr Artur Grisanti Mausbach | Project Lead Artur is a Senior Research Fellow, research supervisor and studio leader at IMDC. He is an architect and urban planner committed to sustainability, design and architecture, practice, education, and research. He has worked globally as a consultant for the car industry and has designs built in the UK, Austria, and Brazil. Artur has an MPhil in Environmental Urban Structures and BA and MA in Architecture and Urbanism (University of Sao Paulo Brazil), and a PhD in Vehicle Design (Royal College of Art, London). Artur worked as consultant for Hyundai and Mahindra, especially on the development of new car aesthetics for emerging markets. Mausbach also delivered trend forecasting to Porsche Consulting, worked on the design of a Fiat racing car, and was a regular contributor to Car Design News. At IMDC he leads the Automotive Transitions Studio exploring paradigm shifts of the car industry, its transition to a focus on autonomous vehicles and sustainability and its connection with car design heritage, material culture and people. He leaded Ecofitting, Choreography of Mobility and Joyful Journey projects, and research for SAIC and Ford.
Dr Farhana Safa | Research Associate Farhana is a former eye surgeon who left an established career in medicine to pursue her passion for car design. Upon completing a masters at the Royal College of Art in Vehicle Design, she joined the creative exterior design team at Land Rover, contributing to both automotive design and strategy. She has a wide creative scope also working in fashion, film and as an automotive photographer, and is keen to use her unusual background and skills to make a valuable contribution to the future of automotive design.
Dan Quinlan | Design Associate Dan Quinlan work as a vehicle designer extends from developing future facing production models to creating abstract concepts. He has worked on the Innovate UK-funded GATEway project, the Future London Taxi and Future Luxury at the Hyundai-KIA lab. Dan is a graduate of the Royal College of Art’s Vehicle Design course specialised in ideation, illustrating designs in a digital and physical medium and translating conceptual designs into tangible outputs. Dan also worked as exterior designer at Nissan (2012) on various productions vehicles.