Function

MiraQua is a compact EV that adopts in-wheel-motor and drive-by-wire technologies. Free from conventional vehicle layout, it lets passengers to ingress & egress via one large asymmetrical front gate. Accessing the rear seats when a front seat is stowed up. Sounds strange? Flip to look at the benefits. Electric drive train makes driving in the city light and easy, and MiraQua’s small footprint helps with this even more. Parking into a small space is not uncomfortable for the driver at all and it reversely contribute back in reserving precious urban space. The passengers can get in and out conveniently via the front. The usable floor area is about 1.9 by 0.6 meters, makes the small vehicle capable of shipping large articles, even a bike. And handling it in and out is too easy.

Inspiration

The decision of designing a small car is based on my life experience in both China and Australia. The cultures and development paces in these two countries vary, but both are suffering from rapid urban sprawl, fast population growth, congestion, and pollution. And there is no easy and evident sign of cure in the near future. On the other hand, the number of private vehicles is increasing, and they are often used by only 1 or 2 passengers. These facts also apply to many other developing or developed countries. The aims is to contain adequate sense of uniqueness, pride and satisfaction into a small vehicle package, tailored for city residents. In does not only enhance people’s life quality, but also encourage the use of green energy. The name MiraQua is combined with ‘miracle’ and ‘aqua’. It implies in the future cities, each one of these small EV represents a water droplet, the traffic network would be running smoothly as a water stream network, efficiently bring people from A to B.

Development

The concept development was initiated with a very strong focus on minimizing vehicle’s footprint but to maintain a very flexible and practical interior space. It has been carried out through sketching, body storming practices, mock-up modeling in various media include styling foam, crafting clay and metal wire etc., and digital model making in Autodesk Studiotools.