A new Ford patent application addresses a unique car- and ride-sharing challenge: managing refueling or battery charging responsibilities across different users of a shared vehicle.

This is a specific example of how automakers are mulling application-specific designs for car-sharing and ride-hailing. Kia is exploring purpose-built trims for ride-hailing drivers, which might include augmented rear seat controls, outlets, and so on.

Looking past modern-day evolutions of commercial models, mature AV, EV, and advanced manufacturing technologies (and regulations) would enable radically different vehicle concepts — beyond removing steering wheels from standard two- or three-box designs.

OEM and startup designers have dreamt up concepts from linkable pod vehicles to airy, reconfigurable interiors. Zoox is a well-known private player working ground-up AV designs, and has filed a patent for a modular quadrant-based vehicle:



More flexible assets and interiors would be a boon for robotaxi operators, especially in early phases of deployment where matching load with demand could be a major challenge (the cost and risk of scaling an AV fleet will flip "asset-light" ride-hailing models on their head — the airline industry is often cited as an analogue).

We touched on these themes in last May's Auto Tech webinar. For a look ahead, join us later this month for our briefing on State of Auto Tech in 2018.



Today, players are mainly focused on natural use cases in transportation and logistics. Further out, new technologies will also drive second-order evolutions of what constitutes a "vehicle" that will trickle across industries.

CES this year saw a heavier emphasis on mobility tech applications in retail and CPG, with concepts like Toyota's e-Palette and Robomart's mobile store. Purpose-built healthcare designs could also tackle access and cost challenges in that industry.