GM'S first self driving Bolt
- Thread starter JyChevyVolt
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Domenick
Well-Known Member
Those don't look like the current Bolt seats, so that's a plus. 
Seriously, though, I was contemplating this interior last night and was thinking, if it doesn't have a steering wheel, why keep the interior pretty much exactly the same as a non-autonomous car. Couldn't the front seats face backward? Or maybe fully recline? Couldn't the back be the main entrance?
I guess we still have to take in the possibility of crashes, but it seems there's seems to be a lot of possibilities for vehicle interiors in level 5 cars.
Seriously, though, I was contemplating this interior last night and was thinking, if it doesn't have a steering wheel, why keep the interior pretty much exactly the same as a non-autonomous car. Couldn't the front seats face backward? Or maybe fully recline? Couldn't the back be the main entrance?
I guess we still have to take in the possibility of crashes, but it seems there's seems to be a lot of possibilities for vehicle interiors in level 5 cars.
JyChevyVolt
Active Member
Those don't look like the current Bolt seats, so that's a plus.
Seriously, though, I was contemplating this interior last night and was thinking, if it doesn't have a steering wheel, why keep the interior pretty much exactly the same as a non-autonomous car. Couldn't the front seats face backward? Or maybe fully recline? Couldn't the back be the main entrance?
I guess we still have to take in the possibility of crashes, but it seems there's seems to be a lot of possibilities for vehicle interiors in level 5 cars.
Yeah, Btyon's crazy LED screen would have been useful. Bean counters won again.
Domenick
Well-Known Member
Or like the one in the Honda Urban EV concept.
But it's not just about screens, but rather the entire interior. There have been any number of concepts from other companies re-imagining vehicle interiors for the autonomous age, but this one from Chevy is the same old, but with no steering wheel.
I am disappoint.
But it's not just about screens, but rather the entire interior. There have been any number of concepts from other companies re-imagining vehicle interiors for the autonomous age, but this one from Chevy is the same old, but with no steering wheel.
I am disappoint.
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JyChevyVolt
Active Member
It's being used for Lyft. Do people throw up on ride-share? Cleaning requirements came into this equation.
Pushmi-Pullyu
Well-Known Member
Yes, that's the sort of outside-the-box thinking we need, to redesign the passenger car so that the interior is more of a passenger lounge, which will be possible once there's nobody driving.
What is shown as the autonomous Bolt is pretty clearly just a test vehicle for the autonomous driving system, and not a car actually designed with autonomous driving in mind.
But I don't see that coming soon. On a practical level, even self-driving cars will, for some years, almost certainly have auxiliary human driving controls for use in certain situations the "robot driver" can't handle. If I go to the local Renaissance Festival, where parking is in a grassy field, how would an autonomous car know where to drive?
But maybe it's me who is thinking inside the box there. Maybe those running the RenFest will set up a local wireless system with an "app" directing cars to parking spots.
That's more like what I am looking for in a level 5 autonomous vehicle. I may choose warmer colors but I could see people decorating the interior of their cars much like they do their living rooms.
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Pushmi-Pullyu
Well-Known Member
Thanks, Domenick! Yeah, that's a lot more like it.
I was reading a comment or article the other day that claimed nobody would want to sit in a rear-facing seat because passengers prefer to look where the vehicle is going, not where it's been. That certainly is true for some, but not everyone. Some people taking the train will sit in a rear-facing seat even when the train car is nearly empty.
Those front seats need to be designed to turn to face either front or back, as the individual prefers. It looks like the "shotgun" seat on that Akino (the photo posted by Domenick) is indeed designed to rotate to face front or back.
Domenick
Well-Known Member
Yes, I believe both front seats swivel around. There have been any number of concepts with similar non-traditional seating (Mercedes F 015, for instance), but I really like the one-box Akino (designed by Akino Tsuchiya) and it's similar in size to the Bolt.
Feed The Trees
Active Member
I almost never need to call a ride, but if this thing shows up I'm cancelling the ride, no thanks, not supporting the self driving car craze.
WadeTyhon
Well-Known Member
A "lounge"-like interior is definitely going to be in the cards once these vehicles are common place. But considering the Bolt EV has a compact vehicle interior, having swivel seats is literally impossible.
Maybe once there is a Cruise Express van or Ford AV Transit Van or VW Vaporwarevan we can start seeing vehicles similar to these concepts.
Several vehicle manufacturers have actually done studies to see how other drivers and pedestrians react when they see a car with no driver.
^ Lolz Ford study
If I were an average pedestrian today with no knowledge of AV tech... I might be concerned if I was looking to walk in front of a car at an intersection for instance - and saw no driver in it. But apparently a lot of people actually respond better than they expected.
Pushmi-Pullyu
Well-Known Member
Hmmm, well, perhaps the engineering would be more of a challenge for a compact car, or a car as narrow as the Bolt EV, but I think it's an exaggeration to say it's impossible. For example, the seat may be designed to be able to slide to the side when the door is open, giving sufficient clearance to turn that seat around 180°. Obviously the car would need to be stopped for that to safely operate.
“With willing hearts and skillful hands, the difficult we do at once, the impossible takes a bit longer" -- Motto of the U.S. Seabees
WadeTyhon
Well-Known Member
Hmm I guess without the steering wheel it might be possible. But I think the seats would need to be completely removed and then placed back into the car backwards.
Even with the door open and the rider out of the vehicle, I don't think there is enough room for the seat to rotate completely as it is now. But it might be possible if the center console is removed and the doors open at a wider angle.
Safety would be a concern though. I'm not sure what the specific laws/regulations about front air bags are, but they would need to be changed. Front air bags would be useless if you're facing backwards. Also not sure how to handle the seat belt flipping 180 degrees either. But once most cars on the road are autonomous, the safety issue is less of an issue.
I feel like there would be a lot of problems to try and solve in a first iteration. I think it will be a gradual change from our existing layout to what these concept cars show. But autonomous cars will 100% get there eventually!
terminaltrip421
New Member
I know that's the one situation where I could see myself taking an autonomous ride -- after having been drinking away from home. of course I don't think I've thrown up since I was like 16 though. blacking out is a more likely occurrence so super-reclining seats might be nice. and life alert.
Feed The Trees
Active Member
How is taking an autonomous car while drunk any different than taking a fleshbot drivers car?
JyChevyVolt
Active Member
I don't know about 180 degree front seat but the backseat better have stronger shock and cushion.
Pushmi-Pullyu
Well-Known Member
I haven't really examined the geometry in question, and I agree that the doors would need to open to a full 90° or perhaps even a bit more. But simply tilting the seat back forward by 20° or so, before the seat is rotated, would solve a lot of the problems you're talking about. If a more extreme adaptation is required, then it may be be necessary to make the front doors longer, more like what you see on a coupe than typically found on a 4-door. But if the door opening is wide enough, then from an engineering perspective it should be pretty straightforward to engineer the seat to slide either back or forward a bit as necessary, then slide to the side and partially out the door, then rotate to face backward, then slide back in and forward (that is, toward the front of the car, but moving the seat "back") as necessary. No need to eliminate the center console if the seats can slide to the side with the door opened.
Now, if they wanted to design the seats to rotate without sliding partially out the door, then yes they would need to eliminate the center console, as seen in the photo of the Akino concept which Domenick posted above. But IMHO that's poor engineering. A better solution might be a center console which lowers into the floor, or raises up on thin posts out of the way, to allow the seats to rotate. If that would allow the seats to rotate without having to slide to the side partially out the door, then that would be a more elegant solution, as well as simpler and probably also safer.
Certainly the placement of air bags will be an issue. But with cars having "side air bags" and "curtain air bags", I'm confident there is a practical solution for rear-facing seats. Presumably there would be two sets of air bags for the front seats; one for deployment with the seat facing forward and the other set for deployment with the seat facing backward.
As on the "captain's chairs" in the Tesla Model X second row seats, by anchoring the shoulder belt to the seat itself.
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WadeTyhon
Well-Known Member
Yeah I thought about that after the edit period ended.
Should have considered it sooner considering how many trips I took in my grandparents RVs as a kid!