Will we see new types of cars after COVID?

April 18th, 2021

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There is sufficient reason to believe that cars of the future may well incorporate new design principles in the wake of COVID-19.

At least, that’s the view according to various car manufacturers, who have begun to envisage a different future for the automobile after the disruption caused by the pandemic, as well as the impact on supply chains that are so critical for vehicle production.

What changes are being touted?

Vehicle design could be in for a significant overhaul it would seem…albeit perhaps not just yet. Nonetheless, what will be a key driver, at least based on early discussions with car designers thus far, is how the mindset of drivers will influence tomorrow’s generation of new cars. And amid the changes of the last year, there can be no denying that the mindset of the modern driver now has other needs that would have seemed inconsequential 12 months ago.

More specifically, however, things like anti-viral coatings could become standard on interior surfaces. This is an area that both Kia and Hyundai have identified as a potential need in the future as they work on “virus-proof” cabins through the use of self-sterilising materials. What’s more, there is even some talk that the way to achieve this could be through the possibility of using temperature and ultraviolet light to sanitise surfaces.

Will the format of the car change as we know it?

At first there was also some train of thought that social distancing behaviour could also give rise to a new breed of vehicles, which would be short-range micro electric vehicles. These would effectively act as a supplement to other forms of transit such as public transport, bicycles and walking. Rather than an all-in-one motoring solution that many brands have tried to embrace through SUVs, and more recently, crossovers, this type of vehicle would be designed more simply as functional units, without the necessary frills that we’ve come to expect in all of the latest-release cars.

However, the trend of new car buying throughout the pandemic has almost universally opposed this notion. In fact, buyers continue to flock to bigger and bigger cars, perhaps spurred on by the fact that they now want to travel longer distances and in more diverse environments. Naturally, it’s no surprise then that SUVs and dual-cab utes are dominating the market with their 4×4 capabilities, let alone spacious cabins and large cargo holds.

There is no denying that recent trends up until COVID-19 were all about shared mobility and peer-to-peer service. With that turned on its head in recent time as we stay at home and keep our distance from others, there is also likely to be some attention shift towards how the internal cabin connects all of the vehicle’s occupants. It is distinctly likely that cars will need to prioritise a more deliberate design when it comes to shared mobility, at least for the purposes of helping us uphold the momentum as far as the shared mobility trend.

Now a full year on from the onset of the pandemic, new observations keep leading to new possibilities. What do you see ahead?