Interior: the mobile living room
Interior: the mobile living room
The interior of the ID.3 is full of innovations and yet retains a puristic design. Here you can see how Alex Gebel’s interior design team succeeded in finding a new design language for e-mobility.
New design ideas need courage and freedom: in episode 11 “Becoming ID.”, Alex Gebel, interior designer, tells us why the interior of the new ID.3 tends toward “non-automotive” and more strongly resembles a modern and mobile living room.
At what point did you realise that electric mobility is about to make a breakthrough for everyone?
Right at the beginning of the project we were told: new design ideas need courage and freedom – so be creative! Feel free to think about form before function. The vehicle interior can be anything: a lounge, living room or cinema auditorium – this attitude gave rise to the open-space concept. Very airy and spacious. We have also gone new directions in terms of technology. Less cautious improvement, but rather revolutionary new developments. How else would the head-up display with augmented reality technology have become a core element of the interior? But here, too, it was important not to overburden, but to apply intelligent simplicity.
What was the biggest challenge you faced over the entire course of the project?
The major challenge with the ID.3 was to make sure that we came up with something that could be produced and operated in such a way that you could actually experience it on the road. The challenge was to package the emotional impact that this topic creates in a concept. To find a new design language for e-mobility that is clearly different from the past language. That means designing something that illustrates the car of tomorrow it still remains close to the people of today.
And despite all the digital preliminaries, a physical seat box truly helped us to make the interactions a real experience. This enabled us to stage possible positions and content well before the first vehicle pre-series.
The ID.3`s modern interior is a revolutinary new development – extremely understated and clean.Axel GebelInterior design
In detail: which technology do you find most fascinating in the new ID.3?
The idea of sitting in a smart and emotional product that almost seems to have a character, a personality of its own. That’s where I see the ID. Light as the link between the outside world, people and cars. For me personally, this technology takes the interior to a new level. The ID. Light spans the entire cockpit and visually supports the driver. For example, when enter the vehicle, it greets you with a welcome scenario. The multitude of useful functions is also extremely exciting. Light is no longer just a design element that intensifies emotions and shapes the vehicle’s character. It is also a supporting technology that assists the driver and passengers.
What inspired you the most when developing the ID. family?
I think the way we have achieved a balance between abstraction and usability in the interior is really good – the look and feel are absolutely harmonious. And how consistently we have woven sustainability into every step of the design and development. This is made possible by the modular electric drive matrix (MEB).
What will you take away from this project personally?
Volkswagen’s new mindset. For me, corporate and product goals have always gone hand in hand. We are clearly committed to the Paris Climate Agreement and want to become CO2 neutral by 2050. That is why the ID.3 is handed over to the customer as a CO2l neutral product. This is the first ever car in the world that holistically considers the environment in its production and also in the materials used.
What are the particular distinguishing features of the ID.3’s interior concept?
It is extremely understated and very clean. In other words it is more “non-automotive” – more like a modern and mobile living room. Every object in the interior has been designed as though it were an independent piece of furniture. It orks as a whole, but also alone.
