Future Offroading with Jeep
MOVEMENT: TRACKING NOTABLE MOVEMENTS IN MOBILITY
Jeep reveals its vision for future off-roading adventuring. Joby Aviation makes continued progress on its quiet eVTOL mobility offering.
Originally posted: July 31, 2021
Jeep Introduces Future Vision for Off-Road Mobility
When you’ve been doing something for over 80 years, it’s helpful to take some time to think about the future. Jeep recently launched a vision video illustrating several features that may make it into its future vehicle lineup. It’s refreshing to see companies take on future vision work, as it shows forethought and a willingness to take some risk.
It makes sense that Jeep took this on. They have a long history of staying close to their consumers and sharing future vehicle concepts at events like the annual Jeep Safari event in Moab, Utah. There, they reveal a range of concept vehicles to gain consumer and press feedback. Similarly, with this vision video, Jeep has taken an opportunity to look ahead on the time horizon and share a vision for the type of outdoor experiences they might bring to future Jeep owners. Work like this can be expensive but doesn’t necessarily cost more than what is traditionally spent on concept vehicles. Given the current context of COVID-19, which has shut down the automobile exhibition circuit, concept vision videos reach broader audiences and make a lot of sense.
It takes courage to do this kind of work. Concepts can easily be misinterpreted. As product cycles shorten, predicting future feature time horizons and anticipating the cultural context in which technology will be presented remains difficult. But the benefit of this kind of optimistic, experience-grounded vision work is that it helps rally development teams and, hopefully, the world as we look towards more engaging and sustainable forms of mobility. And regarding optimism and feeling good, it never hurts to feature adorable K9 friends.
What do you think of the concepts Jeep puts forward? Do the features they present resonate with you? Do you agree with their timeline?
MORE MOVEMENT
Joby Aviation Big and Quiet Announcement
Joby Aviation founder and CEO JoeBen Bivert announced a recent merger that will accelerate the company’s eVTOL efforts. What is remarkable about the video is just how quiet the Joby aircraft appears to be on takeoff as it lifts off at the end of the video.
In addition to powerful vision videos like the one featured above from Jeep, demonstration videos like this comparing aircraft noise across various aircraft are great ways to generate interest in a company’s offering. For more, visit Joby Aviation’s YouTube channel.
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Image and video credits: Jeep, Stellantis, Joby Aviation