Imagine a not too distant future, where unexplored roads and territories are trodden by an electric crossover with surprising performance. Its aerodynamic line and its silence make it part of a landscape that appears suspended in time. With these suggestions, Mitsubishi addressed the seventeen students of the Master in Transportation Design at the IED in Turin, introducing the brief of their thesis project: to create a Mitsubishi crossover of the future. A zero-emission concept vehicle, strongly oriented towards performance and ready to meet the criteria of excellence in terms of design and 4×4 performance, to cross rough terrain, both on and off-road, but which, at the same time, is efficient and minimizes the impact on the planet.
The students took up the challenge by developing individual proposals. Of the seventeen presented, the client selected a shortlist of three proposals, from which one was chosen as the basis for the development of the prototype. The young designers therefore worked as a team, as in a true style centre, to arrive at the design and creation of the Mitsubishi Moonstone, a full-electric crossover that represents the meeting point between performance and fun, with ever-high attention towards the environment and safety. «Moonstone is the result of excellent teamwork, the ability to work across the board and a sharing of skills, values with which the Master’s students put themselves on the line to carry out the most important project of their studies », declared Paola Zini, Director of IED Turin.
Mitsubishi Moonstone evokes the curiosity and audacity needed to face the challenges of the future. A future that also concerns the use of advanced three-dimensional virtual design technologies, with which the students have digitally created the interiors of the concept. The renderings created imagine an automated control of the vehicle, thanks to the use of drive to wire technology. The deconstruction of the dashboard creates a unique and surprising internal environment with an interesting interplay of solids and voids. A sculptural work of pure dynamics that does not hide technical aspects, but rather enhances them, starting with the lidars (radar obstacle detectors) on the bonnet and the visible fog lights that give the vehicle a strong identity. The union continues with the completely closed grille painted to communicate the electric traction, here with four-wheel drive and a door cut that revisits the canons of sportiness, declining them with an ergonomic study that allows excellent livability for the four occupants. Tyres, rims and paint were developed in collaboration with Pirelli, OZ Racing and Lechler. Moonstone will be exhibited at the Mauto in Turin from 29 March to 30 September 2023.
