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50 ID Vizzion concept car allowing a larger, 11 kWh, battery pack to extend the operating range from 300 to 400 km. A 75 kW motor will power the front wheels, while a 150 kW motor will drive the rears. This will be on the road by 2022, which means testing in 2021 and a full production design ready in 2020. At the same time, Aston Martin has been working on a new version of its Lagonda luxury saloon that will be electric and autonomous. This has changed the design opportunities, says the company. The design is aimed at Level 4 autonomous driving, meaning the car will be capable of driving itself in all routine circumstances and on most roads. As a result, the steering wheel can not only move from left- to right-hand drive according to need, in autonomous mode it can also be retracted entirely, allowing passengers in the front to rotate through 180 º to engage in face-to-face conversation with those in the back.  As most of the car’s structural strength comes through a battery pack in the floor, it has been possible to make the apertures in the body far larger than would be wise in conventional cars. That means the rear hinged back doors don’t just open outwards, the roof sections also open upwards, allowing passengers to stand up inside and walk out of the car, or step straight into it. Similarly, the front seats are not mounted on conventional runners, which always interfere with where those in the back would like to place their feet. Instead they sit on cantilevered arms that extend from the floor outside the seat frame, providing a completely uncluttered floor area. Also, the seats are more like armchairs, with heavily bolstered arms. The designers say that’s because, given the choice, people always use their arms to lower and raise themselves from chairs. April/May 2018 | Unmanned Systems Technology The ID Vizzion concept car does without pedals or a steering wheel to make room for a bigger battery (Courtesy of Volkswagen) An electric version of Aston Martin’s Lagonda is planned for 2021, with autonomy following in 2023 (Courtesy of Aston Martin)