Jaguar’s 2040 vision
Electric 2+1 project shown
Jaguar has unveiled the Future-type, its autonomous, electric vision of the car for 2040 and beyond.
At its heart is an ‘intelligent’ steering wheel that, Jaguar suggests, could be the only part of a car you own in future. A driver would take it from car to car, with the wheel able to carry out hundreds of tasks.
Called Sayer, after E-type designer Malcolm Sayer, the voice-activated wheel uses speech-recognition software to answer questions, connect to news, organise travel and select entertainment.
Jaguar said the wheel is, in essence, a member card for its on-demand service club, which would offer either sole ownership or car sharing.
The Future-type has 2+1 seating and a narrow body to optimise urban driving and parking. There is also the option for face-to-face seating in autonomous-driving mode.
Jaguar design director Ian Callum described it as “an advanced research project” that offered an “insight into the potential for driving and car ownership in the future”.