November 25, 2008 The Mazda R&D team has fended off some very impressive competition to take out the Los Angeles Auto Show's 2008 Design Challenge. This year's Challenge posed the question - "How will auto racing look in the year 2025?" - and Mazda responded with this rakish three-wheel design that utilizes a patented electronic tire system to draw energy from an electro-conductive road surface and achieve speeds of 250 mph with no harmful emissions.
The vision for Mazda Kann not only takes a different approach to ways in which power might be delivered to the vehicle (i.e. the blue-sky notion of freeways equipped with a sub-level electro-conductive polymer to deliver power to EVs) but also re-thinks the parameters of motor racing itself. Instead of individuals vying for a podium position, KAAN would reinvent the team element of the sport by allowing up to thirty vehicles to use a peleton-like formation to increase their aerodynamic advantage.
The Mazda Kann was chosen over a number of thought-provoking design concepts including offerings from Mercedes-Benz, Toyota and Audi by virtue of its high level of innovation and technology as well as truly unique styling.
"The scope of the entries this year was very impressive and in the end it came down to which team had the most innovative and artistic design that could go beyond the expectations and challenges of racing today," said Chuck Pelly, director of Design Los Angeles and partner in The Design Academy, Inc. "Mazda's designers created an optimistic vision of 2025 and ultimately brought unique styling back to motor sports."
More pics and details of all the entries can be found here.
Source: Los Angeles Auto Show.