Why bother to specialize in making cars, or boats or eVTOLS, when you can create a module that could work as either of these, depending on the owner’s needs?
Pierpaolo Lazzarini of Lazzarini Design believes modularity and sustainability are key in the approach of future mobility. Inspired by the open-source software of the same name, the Linux concept is modular and open-source, virtually allowing anyone interested to bring their own contribution to it.
Unveiled earlier this year, Lazzarini’s Linux concept eyes a possible 2021 launch date, with the designer asking people from other industries to chip in. The idea is simple: Lazzarini Design, with partner ArchItaly, can deliver a module (the Linux) that can be adapted to suit a variety of purposes.
The Linux is not a vehicle that can do it all, to be clear. It’s not a vehicle that sails, flies, drives on the road or travels on snow but rather a standard module that can be fitted to do just one of these. There is the implication that the Linux could be upgraded at a later time, so theoretically at least, one could buy a boat that could be later converted into a car.
Photo: Lazzarini Design
The standard Linux capsule is made of light carbon fiber and measures 4 meters (13 feet) in length and 1,90 meters (6.2 feet) in width. Its interior is elegant and minimalist, inviting further customization by the owner or even a company selling it for a specific purpose.
As a boat, the Linux module can adapt to four different types of sailing: basic hull, foil, mono hull with electromagnetic self-leveling suspension, and catamaran hull with pneumatic suspension. Depending on which type of sailing the owner prefers, the Linux can carry between four to six passengers.
Lazzarini says that it will be compatible with various outboard engines, and will come with single or twin electric Torqeedo Deep Blue 100i inboard motors delivering 135 hp and 270 hp, respectively. Top speed will be of about 30 knots, and autonomy between four and eight hours.
Photo: Lazzarini Design
For flying, you just fit the Linux with eight multi rotors, Lazzarini says. However, in order to be able to take it up in the air, passenger capacity will be limited to just two – meaning operator and one passenger.
The owner could also fit the Linux with tracks for snow-riding, or an actual all-wheel base for a daily driver. Lazzarini imagines the module in the latter capacity as powered by single or twin electric Siemens motors delivering 100 hp or 200 hp, and ranges of 150 km and 300 km (93 miles and 186 miles), respectively.
The only thing that the Linux doesn’t do is make you a sandwich.
The idea is definitely appealing: a vehicle that could be anything you need it to be or, better said, a platform that would render itself adaptable to a variety of functionalities. By offering it as an open-source module and inviting other designers to contribute to it, it would offer support and encouragement to startups that maybe don’t want to – or can’t – start from scratch.
Photo: Lazzarini Design
That said, imagining this could become real in 2021 is a stretch of the imagination, even more so than the module itself is. Lazzarini Design has a reputation for forward-thinking and futuristic designs that blur the lines between the marine and automotive industries, and even the residential sector, but this is, by far, the most daring and all-encompassing concept so far.
Before you brush it off as “it’s just a concept, anyone can draw these things on a computer,” concepts do serve a purpose and they do imply a lot of work. This one does, at the very least. Concepts push the envelope in terms of what could be achieved, encourage thinking outside of norms and, every once in a while, are thrilling enough for an investor to bring them to life.
Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends. Full profile
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