Whether we like it or not, the automotive world is rapidly moving toward electric cars. But like every other new technology it brings along a few issues that need to be dealt with it, and with EVs one of the main problems is the charging process, which is a very time consuming job.
But Audi is facing this problem head on with their futuristic e-den charging station.
Unveiled at Design Miami 2010, the e-den previews the charging stations of the future and based on the picture Audi is drawing, they’re going to be more like motels or something! They want the stations to have enough amenities to keep the people amused whilst their EV is being charged.
So to be honest they are not really solving the problem. Because it’s the TIME that’s being wasted charging an EV, what you do to pass this time doesn’t really matter! Still, It’s better to have something to do in that time, isn’t it.
More details on Audi’s e-den charging station in the press release below…
Wood furniture and fresh potted herbs, organic food, magazines and coffee-table books – this futuristic service station is a wellness oasis featuring fair-trade products and sustainable materials. A real paradise, hence the title of the installation: “e-den.” The “e” stands for electromobility. Munich-based graphic design studio Mirko Borsche created this vision imagining a greener tomorrow where traditional gas stations no longer exist, but have transformed into more intimate places of encounter and relaxation.
The installation is dominated by reflective glass that mirrors the resplendent Audi e-tron Spyder, a study in electric vehicle design. The architecture is also reminiscent of a 1950s American gas station, with an old gasoline pump encased in glass like a museum piece serving as a reminder of the oil-dependent past.
“Design is the art form aimed at imagining a better, richer, more comfortable everyday life. Today we find the most compelling design work stretches farthest in imagining a better future,” adds Wava Carpenter, Acting Director Design Miami/. „Audi’s proposal for a gasoline-less filling station for electric cars which shown at Design Miami/ is a perfect example of this”.
At Audi, conventional ways of seeing and thinking are continually challenged in order to advance the company and to play an active role in shaping the mobility of the future. As part of the Audi Urban Future Award 2010 architectural competition, Audi took a close look at individual mobility in the city of the future. Furthermore Audi presented four electric vehicle concepts with its e-tron family within just one year – and the small-series, 100% electric R8 e-tron supercar will be on the market in 2012.
Together with a new generation of hybrid vehicles, the e-models form a strong cornerstone of Audi’s strategy for helping shape trends in society and developments in the market. The development of these different technological concepts demonstrates the holistic approach pursued by Audi as regards to sustainable mobility, rounded up by Audi’s core competences of aluminum lightweight construction and other key technologies such as TDI clean diesel, TFSI and research for new fuels and intelligent vehicles.
As Exclusive Automotive Sponsor, Audi has experimented at Design Miami/ with themes such as mobility, technology, material and design since the partnership’s inception: installations ranging from the spectacular “Ignition R8” exhibit in 2006, where are an approximately 10-meter-high sculpture symbolized ignition in the mid engined Audi R8 as the “big bang of dynamism“ to last year’s „Art of Progress“ immediately following the A8’s world premiere where the full-size car turned into a miniature collectible on a coffee-table surrounded by supersized furniture
