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These Materials Are the Next Frontier in Car Interiors

  • <p>Changes are coming to automobiles. We’ve always done our best to report them as they’ve been announced and often prognosticate when they haven’t yet. But while many of the most reported-on changes fall into the sexy categories of exterior design, powertrain, and, yes, everything autonomous, what about changes that may involve the surfaces inside the car—you know, the stuff we actually touch? What’s in the future for interior materials—both the obvious, such as seat fabrics, and the not so obvious, like structural materials used to hold up a dashboard, if there even is a dashboard at all? And now that carbon-fiber trim has become ubiquitous, what’s the next fad likely to take hold? <br></p><p>We did some research, chatted with automotive designers, and did a little of our own pontification to come up with the following predictions about the future of interior materials. Some we’ve never seen before, and others are familiar products used a bit differently. Worldwide imperatives are mandating sustainable materials, and customers are increasingly demanding them. Meanwhile, technology is empowering designers to come up with new uses for old materials, make fabrics and surfaces “smart,” and enable never-before-seen levels of customizability. If anything is certain, it’s this: In interior materials, as in every other subsystem on a vehicle, there are going to be substantial changes coming.</p>
    1/12

    These Materials Are the Next Frontier in Car Interiors

    Changes are coming to automobiles. We’ve always done our best to report them as they’ve been announced and often prognosticate when they haven’t yet. But while many of the most reported-on changes fall into the sexy categories of exterior design, powertrain, and, yes, everything autonomous, what about changes that may involve the surfaces inside the car—you know, the stuff we actually touch? What’s in the future for interior materials—both the obvious, such as seat fabrics, and the not so obvious, like structural materials used to hold up a dashboard, if there even is a dashboard at all? And now that carbon-fiber trim has become ubiquitous, what’s the next fad likely to take hold?

    We did some research, chatted with automotive designers, and did a little of our own pontification to come up with the following predictions about the future of interior materials. Some we’ve never seen before, and others are familiar products used a bit differently. Worldwide imperatives are mandating sustainable materials, and customers are increasingly demanding them. Meanwhile, technology is empowering designers to come up with new uses for old materials, make fabrics and surfaces “smart,” and enable never-before-seen levels of customizability. If anything is certain, it’s this: In interior materials, as in every other subsystem on a vehicle, there are going to be substantial changes coming.

  • Before we get into specific materials, let’s talk about material use: what we’ll call “material honesty.” This shouldn’t be confused with material authenticity, which we will discuss later, but rather the use of materials that not only look functional but actually are, especially in structural areas. Watch for the composite or urethane paneling that shrouds most of the underlying structural bits in today’s cars to come off in many places, especially if the stuff used in said structure has a story to tell about mass reduction or sustainability. This can be done without stripping interiors to their skeletal extreme—see, for instance, the <a href="http://blog.caranddriver.com/the-brit-hits-the-fan-ariel-makes-prototype-road-going-sucker-car/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:Ariel Atom;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">Ariel Atom</a> or the <a href="http://www.caranddriver.com/news/lamborghini-news-lamborghini-sesto-elemento-concept" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:Lamborghini Sesto Elemento;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">Lamborghini Sesto Elemento</a>—but in subtle ways, with elements such as polished aluminum seat anchors or bamboo flooring. This works well both functionally and aesthetically in the current Volvo <a href="http://www.caranddriver.com/volvo/s90" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:S90;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">S90</a> and <a href="http://www.caranddriver.com/volvo/v90-cross-country" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:V90;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">V90</a>, where the polished lower metal edge of the dashboard is no mere decorative element; it’s the front edge of the fundamental structure of the dashboard itself.
    2/12

    Material Honesty

    Before we get into specific materials, let’s talk about material use: what we’ll call “material honesty.” This shouldn’t be confused with material authenticity, which we will discuss later, but rather the use of materials that not only look functional but actually are, especially in structural areas. Watch for the composite or urethane paneling that shrouds most of the underlying structural bits in today’s cars to come off in many places, especially if the stuff used in said structure has a story to tell about mass reduction or sustainability. This can be done without stripping interiors to their skeletal extreme—see, for instance, the Ariel Atom or the Lamborghini Sesto Elemento—but in subtle ways, with elements such as polished aluminum seat anchors or bamboo flooring. This works well both functionally and aesthetically in the current Volvo S90 and V90, where the polished lower metal edge of the dashboard is no mere decorative element; it’s the front edge of the fundamental structure of the dashboard itself.
  • Not the same as material honesty, this involves leaving certain materials as bare or untreated as possible while ensuring durability. Lexus LS chief designer Koichi Suga and assistant chief designer Kei Yamamoto say that they expect natural materials to become more common in the future. And natural can be beautiful: The open-pore wood veneers in many of today’s higher-end cars appear just as elegant as, yet more authentic than, traditional polished veneers. Fabrics may be offered that don’t use artificial dyes to achieve their color. Aluminum and carbon-fiber components may be left unvarnished or unpatterned as a statement of the customer’s commitment to sustainability. As certain buyers seek products that convey authenticity, not just style, expect carmakers to respond in kind.
    3/12

    Honest Materials

    Not the same as material honesty, this involves leaving certain materials as bare or untreated as possible while ensuring durability. Lexus LS chief designer Koichi Suga and assistant chief designer Kei Yamamoto say that they expect natural materials to become more common in the future. And natural can be beautiful: The open-pore wood veneers in many of today’s higher-end cars appear just as elegant as, yet more authentic than, traditional polished veneers. Fabrics may be offered that don’t use artificial dyes to achieve their color. Aluminum and carbon-fiber components may be left unvarnished or unpatterned as a statement of the customer’s commitment to sustainability. As certain buyers seek products that convey authenticity, not just style, expect carmakers to respond in kind.
  • While certain materials will be used more honestly, others will be used more creatively or introduced to cars for the first time. A thirst for unique and bespoke products has prompted many carmakers, particularly high-end luxury brands, to sprinkle unconventional materials into their vehicles. Precious metals and Rolls-Royce’s fiber-optic Starlight headliners are well established already. Check out Bentley’s recently introduced <a href="http://blog.caranddriver.com/walk-together-rock-together-bentley-now-offering-stone-veneer-trim/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:stone veneers;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">stone veneers</a> and Volvo’s gorgeous Orrefors crystal gearshift levers on its <a href="http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2016-volvo-xc90-t8-plug-in-hybrid-test-review" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:XC90 T8;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">XC90 T8</a>. Expect other aesthetically desirable, if occasionally unnatural, applications of materials to emerge as well.
    4/12

    New Materials (New to Cars, Anyway)

    While certain materials will be used more honestly, others will be used more creatively or introduced to cars for the first time. A thirst for unique and bespoke products has prompted many carmakers, particularly high-end luxury brands, to sprinkle unconventional materials into their vehicles. Precious metals and Rolls-Royce’s fiber-optic Starlight headliners are well established already. Check out Bentley’s recently introduced stone veneers and Volvo’s gorgeous Orrefors crystal gearshift levers on its XC90 T8. Expect other aesthetically desirable, if occasionally unnatural, applications of materials to emerge as well.
  • Also expect to see new treatments for wood and leather and other traditional interior materials. “We will always have leather and wood and metal,” said Hartmut Sinkwitz, head of Mercedes-Benz interior design. But they won’t all be used in the same way, even within a manufacturer’s model range, he said. One example he provided was varying finishes of Mercedes-Benz’s leather upholstery. “We will improve the elegance of the leather in the [sedans],” Sinkwitz said, while in SUVs, “we will use rougher, more three-dimensional leather” that is more in keeping with the vehicle’s implied purpose. Sinkwitz also noted a trend toward artificial leather in future cars, something Mercedes has been doing well for generations—the company refers to it as MB-Tex on the options list—as well as three-dimensional textiles in more youth-oriented cars and stitch lines to give “a warm feeling.”
    5/12

    Old Materials Used in New Ways

    Also expect to see new treatments for wood and leather and other traditional interior materials. “We will always have leather and wood and metal,” said Hartmut Sinkwitz, head of Mercedes-Benz interior design. But they won’t all be used in the same way, even within a manufacturer’s model range, he said. One example he provided was varying finishes of Mercedes-Benz’s leather upholstery. “We will improve the elegance of the leather in the [sedans],” Sinkwitz said, while in SUVs, “we will use rougher, more three-dimensional leather” that is more in keeping with the vehicle’s implied purpose. Sinkwitz also noted a trend toward artificial leather in future cars, something Mercedes has been doing well for generations—the company refers to it as MB-Tex on the options list—as well as three-dimensional textiles in more youth-oriented cars and stitch lines to give “a warm feeling.”
  • Although carbon fiber has already become nearly ubiquitous, we still heard a consistent theme from pretty much every designer we spoke to: that it will continue to proliferate inside the cars of the future. “With the progress of the press-molding technique, carbon brings the flexibility to structural surfaces and aids in making the vehicle more lightweight,” said Lexus’s Suga and Yamamoto. “This will also contribute to improved freedom of design.” What they’re referring to is carbon-fiber-reinforced sheet-molding compound, as seen on the inside of the doors and trunklid of Lexus’s flagship LC500 coupe and similar to Lamborghini's Forged Composite; the random orientation of this processing method makes it look totally different from the typical neatly organized weave. So even carbon fiber is evolving.
    6/12

    Carbon Fiber

    Although carbon fiber has already become nearly ubiquitous, we still heard a consistent theme from pretty much every designer we spoke to: that it will continue to proliferate inside the cars of the future. “With the progress of the press-molding technique, carbon brings the flexibility to structural surfaces and aids in making the vehicle more lightweight,” said Lexus’s Suga and Yamamoto. “This will also contribute to improved freedom of design.” What they’re referring to is carbon-fiber-reinforced sheet-molding compound, as seen on the inside of the doors and trunklid of Lexus’s flagship LC500 coupe and similar to Lamborghini's Forged Composite; the random orientation of this processing method makes it look totally different from the typical neatly organized weave. So even carbon fiber is evolving.
  • Imagine upholstery that puts on a light show in time to the music you’re playing, automatically illuminates an area where you might need to clean up a toddler’s spilled Cheerios, or, as seen in <a href="http://blog.caranddriver.com/an-i-for-design-bmw-unveils-i-inside-future-concept/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:BMW's i Inside Future concept;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">BMW's i Inside Future concept</a>, be able to support in-seat audio innovations that allow each passenger to listen to something different. “I believe we will see a rise in the development and use of smart fabrics,” said Bryan Thompson, an automotive designer and consultant who has worked for Nissan, Volvo, Subaru, Peugeot, Airstream, and executive-jet maker Embraer, among others. Smart fabrics, also called e-textiles, can loosely be described as fabrics that contain digital components or even tiny embedded computers. <br><br>The possible applications of smart fabrics are nearly limitless. They can detect an occupant’s size, weight, temperature, and even mood, counteract fatigue, insulate the occupant from ambient noise, or simply change color. “As technology is disbursed throughout our environment, we will see that technology affects the types of materials used in cars. Information will leave the hand and be integrated into the materials all around us,” said Thompson. “Personally, I'm always a sucker for a plaid.”
    7/12

    Smart Fabrics

    Imagine upholstery that puts on a light show in time to the music you’re playing, automatically illuminates an area where you might need to clean up a toddler’s spilled Cheerios, or, as seen in BMW's i Inside Future concept, be able to support in-seat audio innovations that allow each passenger to listen to something different. “I believe we will see a rise in the development and use of smart fabrics,” said Bryan Thompson, an automotive designer and consultant who has worked for Nissan, Volvo, Subaru, Peugeot, Airstream, and executive-jet maker Embraer, among others. Smart fabrics, also called e-textiles, can loosely be described as fabrics that contain digital components or even tiny embedded computers.

    The possible applications of smart fabrics are nearly limitless. They can detect an occupant’s size, weight, temperature, and even mood, counteract fatigue, insulate the occupant from ambient noise, or simply change color. “As technology is disbursed throughout our environment, we will see that technology affects the types of materials used in cars. Information will leave the hand and be integrated into the materials all around us,” said Thompson. “Personally, I'm always a sucker for a plaid.”
  • This may seem like a small matter now—literally, a microscopic one—but expect it to become a big part of a purchase or use decision as cars move toward being shared assets, especially of the driverless, autonomous kind. Smart fabrics will play a key role in the maintenance, perhaps the self-maintenance, of automobiles both owned or shared, with the ability to monitor the levels of germs and allergens around them.
    8/12

    Antimicrobial Surfaces

    This may seem like a small matter now—literally, a microscopic one—but expect it to become a big part of a purchase or use decision as cars move toward being shared assets, especially of the driverless, autonomous kind. Smart fabrics will play a key role in the maintenance, perhaps the self-maintenance, of automobiles both owned or shared, with the ability to monitor the levels of germs and allergens around them.
  • To hard-core car guys, saying “add lightness” invokes the famous mantra of the late, great founder of Lotus, Colin Chapman, whose relentless obsession with reduction in mass to boost performance resulted in some of the most legendary racing and sports cars in history. But the lightness we’re talking about here is the other kind. “As we develop materials that are more durable and cleanable, we will see an emergence of lighter-color interiors,” said Thompson. “Happier spaces will replace the current car caves. It takes a generation or so for that perception to adjust on a meaningful scale, but the technology is here and getting better, and we can expect to see an acceptance that light materials are practical in the next generation or so.”
    9/12

    Adding Lightness

    To hard-core car guys, saying “add lightness” invokes the famous mantra of the late, great founder of Lotus, Colin Chapman, whose relentless obsession with reduction in mass to boost performance resulted in some of the most legendary racing and sports cars in history. But the lightness we’re talking about here is the other kind. “As we develop materials that are more durable and cleanable, we will see an emergence of lighter-color interiors,” said Thompson. “Happier spaces will replace the current car caves. It takes a generation or so for that perception to adjust on a meaningful scale, but the technology is here and getting better, and we can expect to see an acceptance that light materials are practical in the next generation or so.”
  • Tesla didn’t start the trend of touchscreening all the things inside a car. But, with the gigantic touchscreen that dominates the dashboard of its cars, Tesla is the current poster child of the practice. In the future, expect screens to continue to grow in size and in number, while buttons as we know them are likely to disappear. <br><br>“The digital experience will be spread throughout the interior, [including] surfaces with black-panel optics that will enlarge the size of the screens,” said Mercedes-Benz head of interior design Hartmut Sinkwitz. As control buttons become scarce, the ones that remain will become much smarter. With future switches, there will be no “dead surfaces,” he says. “There will be a haptic surface, and beautiful little screens instead of switches.”
    10/12

    More Screens, Fewer Buttons

    Tesla didn’t start the trend of touchscreening all the things inside a car. But, with the gigantic touchscreen that dominates the dashboard of its cars, Tesla is the current poster child of the practice. In the future, expect screens to continue to grow in size and in number, while buttons as we know them are likely to disappear.

    “The digital experience will be spread throughout the interior, [including] surfaces with black-panel optics that will enlarge the size of the screens,” said Mercedes-Benz head of interior design Hartmut Sinkwitz. As control buttons become scarce, the ones that remain will become much smarter. With future switches, there will be no “dead surfaces,” he says. “There will be a haptic surface, and beautiful little screens instead of switches.”
  • The real estate used for outward vision—the windshield, the side windows, even the sunroof—soon may not just be plain old glass, but rather a canvas for instruments, entertainment, advertisements, and even academic instruction and gaming. If interesting information appears in the glass above historic buildings or mountains in the distance, that might get your kids to look up from their phones and look out the windows for a change. Gaming could get a lot more interesting if a game makes use of nearby structural and topographical features rather than imaginary worlds. Think Pokémon Go on the go, only way cooler. And if you simply want to take a nap on a long stretch of road while your car is driving in autonomous mode, the windows could darken to mimic nighttime. We can almost hear the crickets chirping in your smart fabric.
    11/12

    Glass: Now You See through It, Sometimes You Won’t

    The real estate used for outward vision—the windshield, the side windows, even the sunroof—soon may not just be plain old glass, but rather a canvas for instruments, entertainment, advertisements, and even academic instruction and gaming. If interesting information appears in the glass above historic buildings or mountains in the distance, that might get your kids to look up from their phones and look out the windows for a change. Gaming could get a lot more interesting if a game makes use of nearby structural and topographical features rather than imaginary worlds. Think Pokémon Go on the go, only way cooler. And if you simply want to take a nap on a long stretch of road while your car is driving in autonomous mode, the windows could darken to mimic nighttime. We can almost hear the crickets chirping in your smart fabric.
  • Bugatti rendered Rembrandt Bugatti’s famous circus-elephant sculpture in a porcelain relief in the <a href="http://blog.caranddriver.com/bugatti-unveils-veyron-grand-sport-l%E2%80%99or-blanc-a-bug-in-a-porcelain-shop/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:Grand Sport L’Or Blanc;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">Grand Sport L’Or Blanc</a> in 2011. Bentley’s masterful woodworkers inlaid a front-three-quarter image of the original Blue Train Bentley in its <a href="http://blog.caranddriver.com/our-kind-of-express-train-bentley-announces-mulsanne-speed-blue-train-edition/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:Mulsanne Speed Blue Train Edition;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">Mulsanne Speed Blue Train Edition</a>. The interior of the just unveiled <a href="http://www.caranddriver.com/news/2018-rolls-royce-phantom-photos-and-info-news" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:2018 Rolls-Royce Phantom;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">2018 Rolls-Royce Phantom</a> features a three-dimensional gallery space in the dashboard, for which customers may commission artists to sculpt, paint, or weave pretty much anything that’ll fit in there. The point is, fine-art installations may no longer be limited to museums and homes but also possibly your car. But don’t expect it to come cheaply.
    12/12

    “Galleries” and Art

    Bugatti rendered Rembrandt Bugatti’s famous circus-elephant sculpture in a porcelain relief in the Grand Sport L’Or Blanc in 2011. Bentley’s masterful woodworkers inlaid a front-three-quarter image of the original Blue Train Bentley in its Mulsanne Speed Blue Train Edition. The interior of the just unveiled 2018 Rolls-Royce Phantom features a three-dimensional gallery space in the dashboard, for which customers may commission artists to sculpt, paint, or weave pretty much anything that’ll fit in there. The point is, fine-art installations may no longer be limited to museums and homes but also possibly your car. But don’t expect it to come cheaply.
<p>Changes are coming to automobiles. We’ve always done our best to report them as they’ve been announced and often prognosticate when they haven’t yet. But while many of the most reported-on changes fall into the sexy categories of exterior design, powertrain, and, yes, everything autonomous, what about changes that may involve the surfaces inside the car—you know, the stuff we actually touch? What’s in the future for interior materials—both the obvious, such as seat fabrics, and the not so obvious, like structural materials used to hold up a dashboard, if there even is a dashboard at all? And now that carbon-fiber trim has become ubiquitous, what’s the next fad likely to take hold? <br></p><p>We did some research, chatted with automotive designers, and did a little of our own pontification to come up with the following predictions about the future of interior materials. Some we’ve never seen before, and others are familiar products used a bit differently. Worldwide imperatives are mandating sustainable materials, and customers are increasingly demanding them. Meanwhile, technology is empowering designers to come up with new uses for old materials, make fabrics and surfaces “smart,” and enable never-before-seen levels of customizability. If anything is certain, it’s this: In interior materials, as in every other subsystem on a vehicle, there are going to be substantial changes coming.</p>
Before we get into specific materials, let’s talk about material use: what we’ll call “material honesty.” This shouldn’t be confused with material authenticity, which we will discuss later, but rather the use of materials that not only look functional but actually are, especially in structural areas. Watch for the composite or urethane paneling that shrouds most of the underlying structural bits in today’s cars to come off in many places, especially if the stuff used in said structure has a story to tell about mass reduction or sustainability. This can be done without stripping interiors to their skeletal extreme—see, for instance, the <a href="http://blog.caranddriver.com/the-brit-hits-the-fan-ariel-makes-prototype-road-going-sucker-car/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:Ariel Atom;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">Ariel Atom</a> or the <a href="http://www.caranddriver.com/news/lamborghini-news-lamborghini-sesto-elemento-concept" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:Lamborghini Sesto Elemento;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">Lamborghini Sesto Elemento</a>—but in subtle ways, with elements such as polished aluminum seat anchors or bamboo flooring. This works well both functionally and aesthetically in the current Volvo <a href="http://www.caranddriver.com/volvo/s90" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:S90;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">S90</a> and <a href="http://www.caranddriver.com/volvo/v90-cross-country" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:V90;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">V90</a>, where the polished lower metal edge of the dashboard is no mere decorative element; it’s the front edge of the fundamental structure of the dashboard itself.
Not the same as material honesty, this involves leaving certain materials as bare or untreated as possible while ensuring durability. Lexus LS chief designer Koichi Suga and assistant chief designer Kei Yamamoto say that they expect natural materials to become more common in the future. And natural can be beautiful: The open-pore wood veneers in many of today’s higher-end cars appear just as elegant as, yet more authentic than, traditional polished veneers. Fabrics may be offered that don’t use artificial dyes to achieve their color. Aluminum and carbon-fiber components may be left unvarnished or unpatterned as a statement of the customer’s commitment to sustainability. As certain buyers seek products that convey authenticity, not just style, expect carmakers to respond in kind.
While certain materials will be used more honestly, others will be used more creatively or introduced to cars for the first time. A thirst for unique and bespoke products has prompted many carmakers, particularly high-end luxury brands, to sprinkle unconventional materials into their vehicles. Precious metals and Rolls-Royce’s fiber-optic Starlight headliners are well established already. Check out Bentley’s recently introduced <a href="http://blog.caranddriver.com/walk-together-rock-together-bentley-now-offering-stone-veneer-trim/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:stone veneers;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">stone veneers</a> and Volvo’s gorgeous Orrefors crystal gearshift levers on its <a href="http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2016-volvo-xc90-t8-plug-in-hybrid-test-review" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:XC90 T8;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">XC90 T8</a>. Expect other aesthetically desirable, if occasionally unnatural, applications of materials to emerge as well.
Also expect to see new treatments for wood and leather and other traditional interior materials. “We will always have leather and wood and metal,” said Hartmut Sinkwitz, head of Mercedes-Benz interior design. But they won’t all be used in the same way, even within a manufacturer’s model range, he said. One example he provided was varying finishes of Mercedes-Benz’s leather upholstery. “We will improve the elegance of the leather in the [sedans],” Sinkwitz said, while in SUVs, “we will use rougher, more three-dimensional leather” that is more in keeping with the vehicle’s implied purpose. Sinkwitz also noted a trend toward artificial leather in future cars, something Mercedes has been doing well for generations—the company refers to it as MB-Tex on the options list—as well as three-dimensional textiles in more youth-oriented cars and stitch lines to give “a warm feeling.”
Although carbon fiber has already become nearly ubiquitous, we still heard a consistent theme from pretty much every designer we spoke to: that it will continue to proliferate inside the cars of the future. “With the progress of the press-molding technique, carbon brings the flexibility to structural surfaces and aids in making the vehicle more lightweight,” said Lexus’s Suga and Yamamoto. “This will also contribute to improved freedom of design.” What they’re referring to is carbon-fiber-reinforced sheet-molding compound, as seen on the inside of the doors and trunklid of Lexus’s flagship LC500 coupe and similar to Lamborghini's Forged Composite; the random orientation of this processing method makes it look totally different from the typical neatly organized weave. So even carbon fiber is evolving.
Imagine upholstery that puts on a light show in time to the music you’re playing, automatically illuminates an area where you might need to clean up a toddler’s spilled Cheerios, or, as seen in <a href="http://blog.caranddriver.com/an-i-for-design-bmw-unveils-i-inside-future-concept/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:BMW's i Inside Future concept;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">BMW's i Inside Future concept</a>, be able to support in-seat audio innovations that allow each passenger to listen to something different. “I believe we will see a rise in the development and use of smart fabrics,” said Bryan Thompson, an automotive designer and consultant who has worked for Nissan, Volvo, Subaru, Peugeot, Airstream, and executive-jet maker Embraer, among others. Smart fabrics, also called e-textiles, can loosely be described as fabrics that contain digital components or even tiny embedded computers. <br><br>The possible applications of smart fabrics are nearly limitless. They can detect an occupant’s size, weight, temperature, and even mood, counteract fatigue, insulate the occupant from ambient noise, or simply change color. “As technology is disbursed throughout our environment, we will see that technology affects the types of materials used in cars. Information will leave the hand and be integrated into the materials all around us,” said Thompson. “Personally, I'm always a sucker for a plaid.”
This may seem like a small matter now—literally, a microscopic one—but expect it to become a big part of a purchase or use decision as cars move toward being shared assets, especially of the driverless, autonomous kind. Smart fabrics will play a key role in the maintenance, perhaps the self-maintenance, of automobiles both owned or shared, with the ability to monitor the levels of germs and allergens around them.
To hard-core car guys, saying “add lightness” invokes the famous mantra of the late, great founder of Lotus, Colin Chapman, whose relentless obsession with reduction in mass to boost performance resulted in some of the most legendary racing and sports cars in history. But the lightness we’re talking about here is the other kind. “As we develop materials that are more durable and cleanable, we will see an emergence of lighter-color interiors,” said Thompson. “Happier spaces will replace the current car caves. It takes a generation or so for that perception to adjust on a meaningful scale, but the technology is here and getting better, and we can expect to see an acceptance that light materials are practical in the next generation or so.”
Tesla didn’t start the trend of touchscreening all the things inside a car. But, with the gigantic touchscreen that dominates the dashboard of its cars, Tesla is the current poster child of the practice. In the future, expect screens to continue to grow in size and in number, while buttons as we know them are likely to disappear. <br><br>“The digital experience will be spread throughout the interior, [including] surfaces with black-panel optics that will enlarge the size of the screens,” said Mercedes-Benz head of interior design Hartmut Sinkwitz. As control buttons become scarce, the ones that remain will become much smarter. With future switches, there will be no “dead surfaces,” he says. “There will be a haptic surface, and beautiful little screens instead of switches.”
The real estate used for outward vision—the windshield, the side windows, even the sunroof—soon may not just be plain old glass, but rather a canvas for instruments, entertainment, advertisements, and even academic instruction and gaming. If interesting information appears in the glass above historic buildings or mountains in the distance, that might get your kids to look up from their phones and look out the windows for a change. Gaming could get a lot more interesting if a game makes use of nearby structural and topographical features rather than imaginary worlds. Think Pokémon Go on the go, only way cooler. And if you simply want to take a nap on a long stretch of road while your car is driving in autonomous mode, the windows could darken to mimic nighttime. We can almost hear the crickets chirping in your smart fabric.
Bugatti rendered Rembrandt Bugatti’s famous circus-elephant sculpture in a porcelain relief in the <a href="http://blog.caranddriver.com/bugatti-unveils-veyron-grand-sport-l%E2%80%99or-blanc-a-bug-in-a-porcelain-shop/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:Grand Sport L’Or Blanc;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">Grand Sport L’Or Blanc</a> in 2011. Bentley’s masterful woodworkers inlaid a front-three-quarter image of the original Blue Train Bentley in its <a href="http://blog.caranddriver.com/our-kind-of-express-train-bentley-announces-mulsanne-speed-blue-train-edition/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:Mulsanne Speed Blue Train Edition;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">Mulsanne Speed Blue Train Edition</a>. The interior of the just unveiled <a href="http://www.caranddriver.com/news/2018-rolls-royce-phantom-photos-and-info-news" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:2018 Rolls-Royce Phantom;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">2018 Rolls-Royce Phantom</a> features a three-dimensional gallery space in the dashboard, for which customers may commission artists to sculpt, paint, or weave pretty much anything that’ll fit in there. The point is, fine-art installations may no longer be limited to museums and homes but also possibly your car. But don’t expect it to come cheaply.
Car and Driver

We did some research, chatted with automotive designers, and did a little pontificating to come up with predictions about the future of interior materials.

From Car and Driver