Honda Design Chief Says Electrification Has Opened Up Huge Design Possibilities

Honda’s head of design Makoto Iwaki claims that the electrification of cars will have an immense impact on how future models will look like.

Talking to us at Geneva about how Honda’s design language will evolve as electrification becomes more common, Iwaki said the shape of cars may change significantly.

“I believe that the design will evolve due to the electrification. As you also said, it has the huge potential for different possibilities [which] will open up to us. “Also in terms of the form or shape of the car will significantly change due to the electrification.”

The shifts in the industry won’t just influence exterior design. Iwaki revealed that autonomous driving technologies will radically alter the design of the interior, too.

“I think the autonomous driving technologies will significantly, drastically change the interior design as well. For example, the voice command will become dominant. Other technology will also replace all the small switches that you see on the cars.”

Using the large touchscreen of the Urban EV Concept that stretches the width of the dashboard as an example, Iwaki said it provides a glimpse towards the future. However, he couldn’t say if we’ll see all the concept’s radical interior design elements in a future production model anytime soon.