LONDON – Thomas Heatherwick had never designed a car before being hired by Chinese auto firm IM Motors.

“We’re not car designers,” he told the company when it asked his London studio to dream up a new electric vehicle. “That’s why we want you to work on this,” the company replied.

The result was the Airo car that can theoretically strip the air of pollution as it drives along. Its designs were unveiled at the Shanghai Motor Show in April.

Heatherwick, who is behind the futuristic designs of Google’s new buildings in Mountain View and London, told CNBC at the Founders Forum tech event earlier this month that his team is currently working on engineering the vehicle. He expects it to go into full-scale production in 2023.

IM Motors is talking about making a million of these vehicles in China, Heatherwick said. IM Motors, an electric vehicle company founded by SAIC Motor, Alibaba and Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Group, did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment.

The vehicle design includes double sliding doors and adjustable seats that can be turned into beds or swiveled around for a meeting, or a meal, with other passengers.

But some experts question whether the concept can ever become a reality.

Stan Boland, the CEO and co-founder of Five, a self-driving software company headquartered in the U.K., told CNBC that the car will only get built if enough money is thrown at it. “It’ll take $1 billion to $3 billion, but I see IM have Alibaba as an investor so perhaps this is accessible,” he said.

Peter Wells, a professor of business and sustainability at Cardiff University, told CNBC the Airo is a “show car intended to garner public attention” and “not a manufacturing reality.”

“The doors alone would be a massive challenge to put into production at reasonable cost, and even then the car would probably not meet side impact regulations,” said Wells, adding that the layout has been shown off before in concepts from Mercedes and others.

Heatherwick claims that the car could help to address the “global space shortage” but Wells isn’t convinced his approach is the right one. “The claim that it is somehow solving the housing crisis is just laughable,” he said. “The amount of space we give over to cars is already the core problem of many cities.”

Air purification

The hope is that the Airo, which is being designed to have autonomous and driver-controlled modes, will use a small amount of battery power to purify the air as it drives along, although the mechanics are yet to be fully engineered.

“My hope is that that will be possible to engineer, so that it’s using minimal energy,” said Heatherwick, adding that some buses are already doing this.

The 51-year-old — who has also worked on London’s Routemaster bus, the Little Island in New York, and London’s failed Garden Bridge project — wants the vehicle to capture dirty particles from buses, trucks, cars and motorbikes as they go from A to B.

The idea is that it will have a HEPA (high-efficiency particulate air) filtering system that actively cleans air as it passes through the car’s under-carriage.

Heatherwick said it’s “almost like flypaper” in that “if you move it through the air, you’re going to be catching things.”

The filtering system could be dialed up and down depending on how polluted an area is, Heatherwick said, adding that GPS technology could play a role here.

“With the global positioning, it can just kick in when some area’s polluted and then when it’s not a polluted area, stop working,” he said.

Heatherwick said that many of today’s electric car drivers are “slightly smug” and that they drive around thinking they’re not doing any harm to the world. “But are you doing any good?” he said. “Could you actually do something, however small, that adds up?”

Craig Morton, a lecturer at Loughborough University’s School of Architecture, Building, and Civil Engineering, told CNBC that zero-emission vehicles don’t exist as tire wear and braking systems release particulate matter that is continually thrown back up into the air.

“Technologies that can actually remove this material that is suspended in the air are important because once this particulate matter enters the respiratory system it can have substantial consequences for citizen health,” said Morton.

He added: “While introducing such technologies to vehicles themselves holds some merit, one of the best things to do is to restrict the circulation of vehicles in areas that suffer from poor air quality through such policies as clean air zones. Such policies have other beneficial impacts such as encouraging active travel and reducing the supremacy of the car, which leads to more livable cities.”

Tesla has equipped some of its vehicles with a HEPA filter that cleans the air as it comes into the cabin.

The air filtration system has a setting called Bioweapon Defense Mode and Tesla showed in 2016 that this can purify air outside the vehicle in extreme circumstances.

The company put one of its Model X vehicles into a bubble filled with high levels of pollution and turned on Bioweapon Defense Mode. “Not only did the vehicle system completely scrub the cabin air, but in the ensuing minutes, it began to vacuum the air outside the car as well,” Tesla said.

Wells from Cardiff University said that HEPA systems can’t remove pollution from cities on any practical level because there’s a scale issue.

“The volume of air that can be passed through the HEPA system is infinitesimal compared with the volume of polluted air available in the cities of the world today,” he said. “Therefore, the system will make no meaningful difference whatsoever.”

Nick Molden, founder and CEO of Emissions Analytics, which has built an online research and modeling tool for analyzing real-world emissions data from vehicles, told CNBC it’s possible for HEPA systems to “clean” the air outside a vehicle but the impact will depend on the volume of air that gets filtered.

“Modern diesel engines are often doing the same, in that the air going into the engine can contain more particles that the air coming out of the exhaust, due to a combination of incinerating the particles in the engine and filtering them in the exhaust,” said Molden.

While the Airo could help to clean the air in cities, it’s just one piece of the jigsaw, according to Heatherwick.

“Is this by itself solving the world’s climate crisis? No,” he said. “But it’s trying to use every project as an excuse to try to add something to this.”

Customizable interior

The Airo, which is being designed by seven of Heatherwick’s 185-strong workforce at Heatherwick Studio, is being envisioned as an extension of the home.

“There’s a real space crisis going on around the world,” said Heatherwick. “So many of us were thinking we lived somewhere that was OK, but when there was a Covid crisis, not many people have offices or studies separately in the home, and life moved to a very different mode.”

Heatherwick said he wanted to design a car where people could work, program, game, eat, talk, and watch videos, much like they can on a business class seat in an airplane.

Electrochromic glass, which allows people in the car to see out without allowing those in the outside world to see in, could provide the necessary privacy, he said. 

“There are over a billion cars that exist in the world at this moment,” said Heatherwick, adding that they’re only used 10% of the time.

“In many cases, the stereo in the car is better than the stereo in someone’s house. The seat in the car is actually more comfortable than a chair in someone’s house. So you just think, well, what if we really made those work harder and considered it a room for partial use in your life.”

Why the future for cars is connected

(Credit: Unsplash)

The market for connected cars is predicted to soar to over $215 billion by 2027.

Connected cars are potentially safer for road users, and less harmful to the environment.

They open up new revenue streams for the car industry, with features such as remote diagnostics, predictive maintenance and online service scheduling.

The market for connected cars is predicted to be worth over $215 billion by 2027. With the demand for greater connectivity set to soar, 5G-enabled connected cars will become the new norm. What we expect of a vehicle is fundamentally changing from a tool used to merely move us from A to B, to an integrated, fully-connected hub.

Connected cars have clear benefits, being potentially safer and less harmful for the environment. They also present the car industry with an opportunity to innovate and create stronger relationships with its customers than ever before. 5G connectivity is the future of the auto industry and will redefine mobility as we know it.

Here are four ways in which 5G-connected vehicles are redefining the world’s driving experience.

1. Improved safety

According to the UN, approximately 1.3 million people die every year as a result of road traffic accidents, with 20-50 million suffering non-fatal injuries. Over half of all deaths are vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians and cyclists.

The introduction of ‘vehicle-to-everything‘ communications enables a more direct flow of information between vehicles, pedestrians and road infrastructure. This means that drivers will be alerted to nearby hazards, such as broken-down vehicles, reducing the chance of accidents. It has the potential to significantly improve road safety around the world.

2. Consumer experience

Driver demand for connectivity is increasing as people become more familiar with the benefits of staying connected. According to McKinsey, 40% of consumers would change car brands just to gain more connectivity within their vehicles, rising to 61% for drivers in China. 5G-enabled vehicles allow drivers to enjoy their favourite entertainment apps, such as music streaming services or audio book services, from the comfort of their vehicle.

The demand for a more luxurious driving experience with all the comforts of home has never been higher. It’s estimated that by as early as next year, there will be more than 125 million passenger cars with embedded connectivity on the world’s roads, a 270% increase since 2018. https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/47OzjTxkChrtJlagH8aye7

3. Environmental benefits

As well as improving road safety, many of the key features of 5G-enabled vehicle-to-everything technology could also help to manage traffic congestion in major cities. Vehicle-to-infrastructure communication enables direct communication channels between a vehicle and nearby road infrastructure, without need to connect through a central mobile network. This could, for example, alert drivers to an upcoming red light or traffic jam, allowing them to alter their path accordingly, or adjust the vehicle’s rate of travel to maximize fuel economy and reduce emissions.

4. Alternative revenue streams for auto makers

5G also presents a huge revenue opportunity for auto makers that goes beyond just the point of sale. It will allow manufacturers to create lasting connections with customers by offering additional features such as remote diagnostics, predictive maintenance and online service scheduling – all of which would not be possible without integrated connectivity.

GM promises to leave no one behind as it moves to an all-electric future

General Motors says it wants to make sure all of its customers and its employees are included in its transition to an all-electric car company. 

On Tuesday, GM CEO Mary Barra made several promises to achieve that goal, including announcing the creation of a $25 million Climate Equity Fund.

By equity, that means no one is left behind as GM transforms the company. The idea is that all people have access to electrification regardless of socioeconomic status, race or other situations. It means that electrification will benefit society, said Jessica James, a GM spokeswoman.

"Climate change does not impact every community equally," Barra said at the Aspen Ideas Festival. "As we move to an all-electric, zero-emissions future, it is on us to lead positive change and implement inclusive solutions that bring everyone along, especially our employees and communities."

The new fund will be used to support programs that help people and communities that are more likely to disproportionately experience the effects of climate change. 

“We know 80% of EV owners today charge at home,” said Gerald Johnson, GM's executive vice president. But, Johnson said, GM also realizes that many people don’t have a residence where they can charge a vehicle.

Johnson said that GM supports an EV tax credit incentive that would include used electric cars, “to broaden the access” to EVs for more consumers.

“We have an imperative to leave the world a better place than we found it," Johnson said.

As part of its transition, Johnson also said GM will continue to retool its U.S. and global assembly plants to move from internal combustion vehicles to EV, though he did not provide specifics.  

“We will be converting our sites over from ICE products to EVs,” Johnson said. “We will be converting our propulsion plants over to battery,” too, in the coming years.

GM has announced five EV assembly plants for North America that include the existing Orion Assembly, Factory ZERO in Detroit and Hamtramck, Spring Hill Assembly in Tennessee, one in Canada and one in Mexico.

Barra said GM wants consumers to be able to choose an electric vehicle as their only vehicle. Therefore, those consumers must have confidence that if they reach the vehicle's range, which for GM is typically 300 miles, there’s a charging infrastructure to support them. Also there have to be affordable options to buy EVs.

“When we check all those boxes, our research shows that people say they are very interested in an electric vehicle,” Barra said. 

The philanthropic fund complements GM's $35 billion investment in research and development of EVs and self-driving cars by 2025.  

Barra said GM is focused on bringing its current workforce along, while helping to build a diverse pipeline of talent, as GM gets closer to a zero-emissions future. GM will be adding jobs, but James said it is not sharing how many new jobs will be created.

Barra said GM strives to be the “most inclusive company” in the world. That means creating an environment where everyone feels valued, comfortable to be themselves and emboldened to do their best work. It also means including them in a transition to EVs, Barra said.

“Whether they’re an engineer or a teammate working on the assembly line in one of our plants, they need to know they are a part of our future,” Barra said. “This won’t happen overnight – it will happen over time and that time will allow us to retrain employees. Our goal is, as we make this transition, we bring everyone along.”

GM recently established GM Automotive Manufacturing Electrical College, which allows people to be retrained to work on EVs. As for the workforce of the future, Barra said, people need to have a technology basis. They don’t necessarily have to “be able to code,” but they should know enough about software and technology to be flexible to move to a variety of jobs, she said.

GM has said it aspires for all of its light-duty vehicles to be zero emissions by 2035.

Barra said GM's focus on "equitable climate action" centers on four areas:

• The future of work: GM will prioritize its current salaried and UAW-represented workforce in its shift to EVs. GM publicly reiterated its support for the UAW to organize employees at the Ohio and Tennessee Ultium Cells LLC battery cell manufacturing plants. In May, the UAW told the Free Press that it is prepared to battle GM at the new battery cell factories GM is building in Ohio and in Tennessee if the automaker won't allow a simplified process, called a card check, to organize workers there. But days after the Free Press article, GM and its battery cell partner, LG Energy Solution, publicly expressed support for unions. They also acknowledged workers' rights to unionize the joint venture called Ultium Cells LLC battery plants. When asked Tuesday if GM would support a card check process at the battery cell plants, Johnson said, “We are supportive of the UAW. We are partners with the UAW and have been for decades. It is ultimately the decision of the employee group there, but we fully expect we’ll work together with the UAW moving forward at these plants as we do in our propulsion plants across the U.S.”
• EV access
• : GM has said it will bring 30 new EVs to market by middecade that offer customers a wide selection across a range of price points. The redesigned 2022 Chevrolet Bolt EV starts at $31,000 and the 2022 GMC Hummer pickup, due out later this year, will start at $79,995. GM also announced partnerships that will use its Hydrotec fuel cells for rail and aircraft applications, which could deliver improvement in emissions beyond cars.
• Infrastructure equity: GM is committed to helping bring widespread charging stations and other solutions to address any charging concerns that can hinder EV ownership.

 GM will help fund organizations that are helping to find solutions to changes that will result due to climate change. GM and these groups will work at the community level looking at the future of work, EV access, EV infrastructure and other issues that arise from climate change.

Starting Tuesday, GM is accepting proposals from outside groups for funding from its new Climate Equity Fund. Potential grantees should submit proposals aligned to GM's four climate equity social outcomes listed above. 

The grant proposals will not go to other EV companies. Johnson said, “This is targeted for grassroot organizations in communities — targeting towards awareness, understanding and engagement in climate change and an EV future.”

Barra said GM strives to make mobility safer, more accessible and more environmentally friendly and it will work with community-based stakeholders to identify their needs and find solutions. 

GM will advocate for inclusive and equitable climate change, renewable energy and transportation-related policies at the federal, state and local levels to help ensure a sustainable mobility future for all, she said. It will help fund organizations that provide equitable access to EVs.

"It means that 20 years from now, as we look back at our company and our spending $35 billion to transform the company, we can be proud in how we did it," James said. "And we'll know that we didn't leave anyone behind."