Renault 5 EV Concept and Canoo Pickup top Future Mobility of the Year Awards for 2021
As the world moves further and further into using the word “Mobility” for how we see transportation, It is with great interest that we look at the Future Mobility Of The Year Awards for 2021.
These awards, initiated by the highly-respected science and engineering institute research university KAIST, look at the ideas engineers and designers have for the near and far future and then track how they are implemented and used. The awards have been granted for three years so far.
The 2021 winners and frontrunners include both traditional automobile companies and tech upstarts, and look at products for both the private and the public/commercial sector.
The Private Mobility winner for the FMOTY Awards 2021 was the Renault 5 EV Concept. The Renault 5 is a car with both everyday and enthusiast history, and taking it into an electrified future is both a challenge and a brilliant idea.
Judge Georg Kacher from Germany said “Fuses Renault’s past at its best with Renault’s future at its peak: tradition and future become one.”
The Renault beat out another well-received prototype, the Lexus LF-Z Electrified Concept that showcased the true flexibility of a rethought all-electric platform that is meant to combine an exhilarating driving experience with the ease and safety of various levels of autonomous support as desired.
The Public And Commercial Mobility winner for the FMOTY Awards 2021 was an upstart, The Canoo Pickup from the USA. The new company took on the beloved workhorse vehicle of the US and made it not only fully electric but also far more usable and consumer-centric with small details that we are already seeing appear in more mainstream (fuel-burning) truck platforms. An excellent vehicle for when your workspace becomes wherever you need to be.
Judge Paul Horrel from the UK said “It contains multiple clever and practical ideas to make a pickup more helpful to the driver and user. They are realized in a way that makes it a delightful vehicle, not merely a dull utilitarian one.”
This columnist was again among the judges and I had this to say: “A wonderfully reinventive rethink of a stalwart workhorse platform. It makes the pickup even more utilitarian, perfect for the more modern craftsmen and artisans that may well need to bring their tools and indeed their workshop around with them.”
The Canoo went against vehicles such as the Porsche Concept Van, a hugely fun vehicle that combined retro racing history with a rethink of what their future enthusiasts will want.
