MINI thinks big with Vision Next 100 concept

If the lessons of the Vision Next 100, launched in London today, are taken to heart, people won’t have to own a MINI to drive a MINI.

Instead, the future of the brand will be based around car sharing, autonomous driving and electric powertrains, with cars autonomously arriving to pick people up on-demand, then leaving the same way.

A move to an electrified powertrain across the board for every MINI model will free up enormous amounts of interior space, too, and will help the car to adapt itself to the moods and needs of its drivers.

BMW Group Design chief Adrian van Hooydonk insisted the Vision Next 100 was based around a motto of Every MINI is my MINI, with the brand hitching its future to car sharing.

“MINI looks to offer smart and bespoke mobility in cities that engages all the senses. And in the future, you might not actually have to own a vehicle to enjoy the benefits,” van Hooydonk said.

Wrapped in a silver skin, the Vision Next 100 is seen by its design team as a blank canvas, able to change the body and roof colour on demand via projection lighting and even create personalised body graphics, like chequered flags, race numbers or the ubiquitous Union Jack, on-demand.

The car itself is changeable, capable of switching from John Cooper Works mode on winding roads to a more comfort-oriented setting in city work.

It has also been designed as a more interactive machine, with an Inspire Me button that can check the driver’s own download data to recommend things to see, check concert and exhibition venues or food styles.

Dubbed the 'Cooperizer', the system is a digital circular tool, in roughly the same shape and position as the current MINI multimedia screen, that creates a new style of connection between the driver, the occupants and the car’s own artificial intelligence.

“In the future, as now, people will be attracted in great numbers to MINI cars and the attitude to life associated with them,” van Hooydonk insisted.

“But it may not actually be necessary to own a MINI to be part of the action,” he reiterated.

“The design team’s challenge was: how could a MINI be widely and instantly adaptable – making the driver feel it is their car, tailored precisely to their own taste – and available whenever and wherever they need it?

“In the cities of the future, will there be space for a car which engages at an emotional level? What will become of the clever-use-of-space principle that underpins MINI? And how can MINI respond to a world becoming ever more digitalised and interconnected?

“The core philosophy behind the MINI VISION NEXT 100 is the thoughtful use of the planet’s resources in providing personal mobility.”

The glass front gives the cabin a feeling of space and openness thanks largely to the emission-free powertrain, while the current sports-seat set-up has been swapped for a full-width bench seat. There is no central transmission tunnel, so the floor is flat across the car’s entire width.

The pedals, the seat and the steering wheel all adjust electronically, with the wheel moving to the centre of the car, away from the driver in autonomous mode. It can also drive itself off to a recharging station for its (presumably) battery pack, leaving its driver and occupants wherever they prefer, such as the office or a restaurant.

Its interior materials are largely recycled, from the plastic trims to the aluminium floor.

“These materials should retain their high level of perceived quality over many years, age stylishly and offer a special tactile experience,” van Hooydonk said.

“With the more intensive use of a shared car, interiors will need to be much more hard wearing. In addition to the modern materials made from recycled plastic and aluminium in the floor area, roof lining and side panel trim, for example, the MINI interior designers used materials less commonly found in car cabins, such as brass, basalt and cellulose.

“The designers made the storage net behind the steering wheel from lightweight basalt, while the lower section of the seat is trimmed in a recycled cellulose material similar to paper. This novel use of materials included deliberately allowing a patina to develop through use and ensuring they retain along-lasting and sophisticated appearance.”