Munson Elemental is a project to explore a new philosophy in vehicle design, one that expresses the mission of a vehicle, embraces individual choice, and that is inclusive of the community of engineers, builders, and designers.
A vehicle's essential mission is to provide personal mobility with safety and utility, and the design of the vehicle should express that mission. So the central element in that mission—the structure that encloses the driver and passengers, cradles the drivetrain, mounts the suspension and wheels—must be shown. We refer to this structure as the "fuselage." A fuselage that expresses the mission of the vehicle omits the superfluous, like dramatic body lines, integrated wheel flares, complicated brightwork at the nose, and lighting designed to give the vehicle a certain personality. These elements only detract from the expression of the mission.
A particular vehicle has a mission that it shares with all other vehicles of its type, but it also has a mission of serving a particular individual. With conventional vehicles, available options like paint, fabrics, sound systems, information systems, are chosen by the manufacturer's designers and are fixed at the time of manufacture. Changes to these options once the vehicle is built are made at significant cost. Contrast this to motorcycles, which seem to invite owners to tailor their bikes to fit their own needs and tastes. A vehicle design that embraces individual choice must not only leave room for end-user customization, but must actively support it through open specifications of hard mounting points and electrical/electronic interfaces.
We believe that a vehicle design that omits superfluous elements will be significantly simpler and thus less expensive to manufacture, and more easily open-sourced. This would open participation in the manufacturing of such a vehicle to a much wider range of participants. A design that leaves room for end-user customization and whose specifications are open can open the door to a wide range of other kinds of participants as well, such as designers, customizers, and interior designers.
The car pictured here is the DS1, or Design Study 1. It is a 2006 Volvo S60 that was in an accident that did superficial but still very expensive damage.
If you want to know more, send email to jpmunson at gmail dot com.
Jonathan Munson, May 2018.