Abstract
The combination of the global economic crisis and the issues associated with reducing our carbon consumption has made the Microcab project both timely and relevant. The company is essentially a spin-out from Coventry University’s design expertise. The project has been to design, develop and test a sequence of vehicles for urban transport using low carbon hydrogen fuel cell technology. The key process issue is whether a relatively straight forward and familiar design process can be followed up successfully by a design product evolution and testing programme which is complex. Its complexity is in its dependence on various funding sources, in its engagement with a changing array of development partners, and in its relationship to a number of public sector programmes. The Design and Development of Microcab
Keywords
Industrial Design, Eco-Design, Sustainable Design
Citation
Tovey, M. (2010) The Design and Development of Microcab, in Durling, D., Bousbaci, R., Chen, L, Gauthier, P., Poldma, T., Roworth-Stokes, S. and Stolterman, E (eds.), Design and Complexity - DRS International Conference 2010, 7-9 July, Montreal, Canada. https://dl.designresearchsociety.org/drs-conference-papers/drs2010/researchpapers/117
The Design and Development of Microcab
The combination of the global economic crisis and the issues associated with reducing our carbon consumption has made the Microcab project both timely and relevant. The company is essentially a spin-out from Coventry University’s design expertise. The project has been to design, develop and test a sequence of vehicles for urban transport using low carbon hydrogen fuel cell technology. The key process issue is whether a relatively straight forward and familiar design process can be followed up successfully by a design product evolution and testing programme which is complex. Its complexity is in its dependence on various funding sources, in its engagement with a changing array of development partners, and in its relationship to a number of public sector programmes. The Design and Development of Microcab