SAIC Design - the London-based styling outfit responsible for MG Motor - has presented the radical new Maze concept as a gaming-inspired compact EV which aims to "bring back driving fun to electrified cars".
Revealed as the UK returns to a more familiar way of life following lockdowns and other pandemic-related obstacles, the Maze has been designed in recognition of three key principles: "Play is important. Discovery is important. Adventure is important."
It's aimed at a new generation of vehicle users, much like the recently revealed Cyberster concept, and draws heavily on themes familiar from "the culture of gaming" and mobile games. SAIC Design said it wanted to capture the "'at home' gaming scenario" and convey it in the form of a car.
The Maze has been designed to take part in a 'real world treasure hunt' of digital art installations in cities, though it remains a digital rendering for now with no hit of production.
The cockpit, accessed through a vertically opening glass canopy, comprises a pair of 'zero-gravity' seats, a video game controller and a screen, in a set-up reminiscent more of a personal gaming suite than a conventional car.
The heavily angled exterior, meanwhile, is shaped around "computers that show off their components and celebrate their processing power", while the short overhangs and compact proportions hint at its potential manoeuvrability in town. MG notes that the canopy door takes up less space than a normal side-opening door when open.
As the Maze is a future-looking design study rather than a preview of a production car, details of its hypothetical underpinnings remain unconfirmed. SAIC states that it has multiple electric motors and an interchangeable battery, but has offered no performance details.
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If you build it, they will buy it.
It looks like the sort of cool design Smart could do with to recover their mojo.
Erm, I d like to see this built as a vehicle for all walks of society,not just an enthusiast, smaller, cleaner,more urban than City, if people would use public transport more,hopefully EV powered in the not to distant future,there'd be less pollution,less stress,and a generally better, happier way to live.
My point was about making something desirable, not just an appliance. People are more likely to move to something new because they have a hankering for it, and that includes enthusiasts. Enuthsiast cars are often big an brash, but small and fun could have just as much appeal if it isn't designed purely on a lowest cost basis, that doesn't mean it has to cost the earth either (in more ways than one).