Honda believes in “The Power of Dreams,” but who would’ve dreamed up a car like this?
Italian transportation designer Liviu Tudoran did. Drawn sometime in 2009, reports are surfacing of new details of the car, named the Honda Native. The car changes color through photo-cosmic technology—something no one seems to know about yet. But etymologically speaking, it would probably have something to do with the manipulation of white light and its component colors.
Apparently, Tudoran’s also a champion of the environment as he conceptualized the Honda Native being powered by an electric engine that harnesses energy from high-voltage, lithium-ion batteries. The interiors of the car do not play second-fiddle, as it is made of light aluminum while the speedometer display and touchscreen controls employ new OLED technology.
While waiting for confirmation that the Honda Native will be produced, we’ll have to settle for some of the other futuristic designs Tudoran has on his site.
And here I was waiting for a flying Delorean.
UPDATE (February 4, 2011, 11:00PM):
Tudoran has responded to our inquiries with this clarification: that photochromic (not photo-cosmic) material is something that changes reversibly color with changes in light intensity. These materials are said to be colorless in the dark, but when sunlight or UV radiation is applied (hence, heat) the molecular structure of the material changes and it exhibits color. When the light source is removed, the color then disappears. Changes from one color to another will be made possible by the combining of photochromic colors with base colors.
“The photochromic material…is applied on the exterior of the car and covered properly with a polycarbonate material”, he says.