Audi Grand sphere : The Personal Street Jet

The Audi Grand Sphere concept will be presented at the IAA 2021. Like an outstanding flight, the 5.35 m (17.6 ft.) long grand-sphere sedan offers an extensive, on-board experience in combination with private luxury.  The Audi grand sphere has its place as the second of the 3 “spheric” concept vehicles with the four rings from the manufacturer. This is because in the next Audi series in a few years’ time the technology and design aspects integrated in it will be revisited. The Audi’s new philosophy shows how the company claims to be the trend-setter for technological change and entirely new, comprehensive mobility options in the automobile industry.

The New Direction 

The three concept vehicles that the brand used with the four rings to present its vision of advanced luxury are: Audi sky sphere, Audi grand sphere and Audi urban sphere. Audi is therefore developing an experience in vehicles that will be more than just spending time in a car to travel from point A to point B. 

These conceptual vehicles offer a revolutionary design in which the inside, the passenger cabin, is revisited as the core of the automobile and the overall user experience is no longer restricted to the technical needs. This is evident after having a look at flexible interior arrangement, the elimination of controllers and the pure expansion of the cockpit, as well as the connection with new services.

What is Inside Out Design Process 

This design process states that the starting point of designing is the interiors, the lifestyle and sensation of the passengers on their journeys. All these things combined to shape the area, construction, and functions. The design process itself transforms with this reconsideration. The focus point of the discussions in the initial phase is the interiors and how to move ahead. Only then can we create the packaging, external forms and geometry that form the automobile and the technical premises into an overall piece of art.

Indeed the “sphere” within the name is conveying an indication that it is always in the core of the Audi sky sphere, grand sphere, and urban sphere cars. Audi is conveying that in this new generation of automobiles, the driving system and the steering can no longer operate the design criteria.

Exterior Design

The Grand sphere of the Audi does not look like a typical sedan, it seems more like a finely designed four-door GT with an aerodynamics line. The measures of the Audi grandsphere concept show that the sedan is a clear example of the luxury segment of automobiles with a length of 5.35 m, a width of 2 m and a height of 1.39 m. The wheelbase of 3.19 m shows the highest value, that even surpasses the contemporary Audi A8’s extended variant. However, the visual impression it gives when looking at it for the first Time, it is considerably more stunning than what these numbers imply. 

However, the vehicle hardly looks futuristic, but it emphasises more on the conventional aesthetic values, which is missing in almost all electric automobiles. The top end of the hood is drawn deep into the chassis’ side in the horizontal line displaying a long engine compartment. In the back, the line passes through the rear wheel together at the same height and extends throughout the whole cabin, emphasising its width.

From the base of the hood an additional horizontal line emerges which is flowing underneath the side windows and through the compartment. It separates the panels of the door in horizontal and curved verticals above the rocker panel. The soft, but distinguishable form of the wheel wells is typical for Audi. The sloping arc of the roofline highlights the grandsphere. The overall shape of the body is consistent with the lines and all the surfaces are organic.

Interior Design

There is no B-pillar in the vehicle and the doors of the Audi grandsphere concept are reversed so that front and back can connect. As soon as user get inside, the entire inner world opens to them. The Audi grandsphere has a special feature which detect its passengers with a unique road identifier that unlocks the doors and greets them with their own screens and ambient light. The vehicle automatically detects passenger’s postures and adapt accordingly for each sitting. 

Inside the chambers on artistic surfaces and practical components horizontal lines are present. The large, airy cabin promotes the appearance of a single area and absence of a steering wheel, pedals and traditional dashboard creates a sensation of openness and wideness. This sense is emphasized especially by the huge glass panels, the expanded windscreen, and the clear roof. The same applies to the unique shape of the side windows in which the top half is unusual.

The largest section is only slightly higher than the line of sight. Audi’s futuristic concept car AI: CON showed this technique for the first time in 2017 and is progressing towards mass production. 

One amazement is when you glance around the fresh, decorated cabin of Audi grandsphere is that neither dial instrument batteries nor black panels for virtual display concepts are visible. 

Headlights

The front end of the Audi A3 is characterized by a flat hexagon shape. The surfaces inside the room are illuminated also from above. On the top of the single frame, the headlight units seem like sharp, narrowed eyes. The lights correspond to the four-ring brand logo: the cross-section of two rings is extended and isolated into one pupil – a new digital signature which is recognizable. This implies that light regions can be changed as daylight or as dynamically staggered blinking lights – depending on traffic scenario – to provide a clear signal for safety. In the rear light components, the same graph is also present – another key feature of the Audi light design.

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