As we approach a time when all cars will drive by themselves, a designer ponders what the future for luxury vehicles might look like.
Alexis Poncelets
Preliminary sketches for Alexis Poncelets
Starting with the Bentley brand, Alexis Poncelet, a member of the exterior design team at VW Future Center Europe, envisioned an autonomous electric sedan that retained the opulence and style of the famous car while incorporating a leaner and more aerodynamic structure.
Alexis Poncelets
In a concept he calls “The Monument”, Poncelet pays tribute to the characteristic Bentley front end with its flat nose, but replaces the classic grill with dotted metal foils arranged so that four vertical LED headlights become visible.
The rear of the car was designed as a “flat cutout for aerodynamic efficiency,” he says on his Behance page, to allow greater range on a single charge. Poncelet isn’t a fan of trendy rear LED strips and instead adds taillight modules that allow nearby vehicles to measure the monument’s braking intensity. This means that the self-driving car can “communicate smartly and elegantly with other road users”.
Preliminary sketches for Alexis Poncelets
The convertible top is designed to give the feel of a continuous glass curve from front to back, offering passengers an almost 360-degree view of their surroundings, while outsiders get a paparazzi-like glimpse into the luxurious lives of the occupants.
Being chauffeured by the most advanced artificial intelligence is also typical of the British car company’s extremely wealthy clientele, with an interior with sumptuous leather seats, plenty of legroom and a platform that halves the car in half, doubling the perfect drinks table. And although the monument is intended for autonomous driving, it contains a steering wheel for those times when a wealthy owner wants to take control out of nostalgia.
Rear view of Alexis Poncelets
The body is long and low, creating a sleek and streamlined image. Poncelet calls it “just a smooth and proud British sedan in the main line,” adding that incorporating larger surfaces, less unique parts and greenhouse gas control capabilities would make the car a “mechanical gem”.
The story goes on
While it doesn’t include any specifications on batteries or electrical systems, designing an electric vehicle body for the posh brand is a very smart design move, as Bentley only announced its Beyond 100 plan last year: a commitment to become carbon neutral by 2023 and move to one fully electric fleet by 2030.
This plan could reach for the stars as the company currently only has two hybrid models and its first all-electric vehicle is unlikely to hit the market before 2025. Design in the pocket, most notably one from an employee at parent company Volkswagen.
And Poncelet has a lot of ideas. His Instagram posts span the full range of vehicle models, from a Star Wars-like angular van and a moon-ready Porsche to a hot dog-shaped hot rod.
Alexis Poncelets
Born in France, Poncelet is a 2020 graduate of the Rubika French design school and specializes in cutting-edge transportation concepts.
