Exactly what the CAVs of the future will look like is very much still up for debate. 

It remains unclear whether form will lead function or the other way round. 

Some suggest that designers have an opportunity to shape how self-driving are used by their non-driving passengers. 

Others will argue that CAV design will be informed by what the vehicles are used for. 

There are some people who believe the introduction of CAVs will lower rates of car ownership and they say that, as a result, it’ll matter less and less what cars look like. 

Others meanwhile argue that people use transport as a way to express their identity, and so it follows that CAVs will have their own design hierarchies – just as cars, coaches, and planes do today. 

In fact, of all the tricky topics we’ve tackled in this series, it’s fair to say that the design of connected and autonomous vehicles is the one where there’s least agreement. 

But that won’t stop us from trying to find some kind of consensus!

https://smartmobility.london