The Los Angeles Auto Show 2009 is featuring 11 concept cars which either have a space age design, a green theme or both. Concept cars from Audi, BMW, Honda, Lexus, Mitsubishi, Subaru, Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo offer a glimpse at what the vehicles of tomorrow may look like.
This group of concept cars include:
• Audi e-tron
• BMW Vision EfficientDynamics
• Honda Personal-Neo Urban Transport
• Lexus LF-Ch Premium Compact Hybrid
• BMW MINI Coupe
• BMW MINI Roadster
• Mitsubishi PX-MiEV
• Subaru Hybrid Tourer
• Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid
• Volkswagen Up! Lite
• Volvo S60 Concept
In regard to space age design, the Audi e-tron, BMW Vision EfficientDynamics and Honda Personal-Neo Urban Transport blow away their respective competition. And of this group, the Honda Personal-Neo Urban Transport (or P-NUT as they are calling it) has the most futuristic design.
The P-NUT is a small urban vehicle meant to tool around big cities and fit into tight spaces. It has a small internal combustion engine coupled with a hybrid battery pack that makes it a green vehicle.
On the P-NUT, the windshield and sunroof merge into one as the swoop of the overhead design lends itself to this feature. Now, let's face it, next to the space age vehicle, the Toyota Prius plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHEV) isn't very sexy.
It looks basically like a Prius. But what is sexy is that unlike many other concept vehicles, this one is expected to make it to market next year. Not only that, the Prius PHEV will compete head-on with the GM Volt PHEV.
While GM is making grandiose claims about the performance of the Volt (which is still a work in progress) setting up extreme expectations, Toyota is downplaying expectations of the Prius PHEV - for now.
One can look forward to next year and the years beyond and see the Toyota concept car of today, being one of the highest selling vehicles in tomorrow's marketplace. And, that's a pretty good concept, now isn't it?
Copyright (c) Tom Snellers, all rights reserved.
Tom Snellers owns a blue car and writes many articles in the automotive field relating to the newest innovations and green tech offerings.
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