Icona Nucleus concept vehicle has its
American debut in Los Angeles. Italian design company Icona is present for the first time at the
auto show in California, despite having established its Icona Design Los
Angeles studio in summer 2016. Hiring 20 people including designers, modelers,
and engineers, the studio receives more than 40 percent of his revenues from
U.S. clients.
The rest comes from international projects from
customers in Europe and China. Icona also has design studios in Turin and
Shanghai. The Nucleus Concept is the project that put Icona on the map thanks
to its futuristic design and “human-centered mindset.” Some would argue that a car
that doesn’t allow humans to drive isn’t quite “human-centered” but we’ll let
that slide because Icona doesn’t see any reason for people to drive in the
future.
Icona Nucleus is basically an autonomous car that
embodies Icona’s vision for the future of mobility. It’s a Level 5 fully
autonomous vehicle whose interior is freed up from the constraints of a typical
automobile driven by human beings. There’s no steering wheel or
dashboard inside; instead, the cabin is described as a mobile living space “where
the focus is no longer the road but the destination.”
The Nucleus’ lounge-like cabin features six seats
including a couch for added comfort. There’s plenty of room inside, given that
we’re talking about quite a big car. It’s 5.25 meters long, 2.12
meters wide and 1.75 meters tall. Despite the rather massive body, it has a low drag
coefficient of 0.25, thanks in part to an underbody diffuser and wheel arch
aero blade extensions.
