| Make
|
GM |
| Model |
Bare
Necessities Truck |
| Concept
year |
2009 |
| Production
year |
- |
| Engine |
- |
The GM Bare Necessities Truck concept was created by GM's
designers at 'The Lab', a new collaborative and interactive
design research community based on the internet. The Lab
is a place where the designers at GM can develop and share
their own semiofficial concepts. Most of the projects
won't develop past the sketching phase but they will serve
to gauge feedback and generate new ideas.
The Bare Necessities Truck is exactly what the name suggests.
Essentially it is a utility vehicle which offers the owner
everything they need, and nothing they don't.
During the development phase of the concept the designers
talked to truck owners who were taking personal responsibility
for the environment. People who were were cleaning up
city parks, converting their homes to solar power, or
cultivating green areas etc. These drivers wanted a truck
which can do all sorts of jobs, but without needing huge
amounts of fuel.
The proposed drivetrain for the GM Bare Necessities Truck
features a frugal hybrid engine. Lightweight materials
would be used in the construction to further increase
economy.
In addition to the economical engineering, the designers
wanted to make the Bare Necessities Truck look efficient
too. This meant designing the truck with fewer parts,
eliminating unnecessary features, and scaling down the
size of the vehicle. It also meant using more environmentally
-friendly materials and more durable long-lasting materials
that don’t need to be replaced for a long time. Having
two doors instead of four reduces vehicle weight and parts.
Having a single piece bed simplifies the truck too.
It also meant shrinking the truck without giving up capability.
The answer was to devise a reversible bulkhead that could
either increase the cargo area or the passenger compartment.
The bulkhead flips 180 degrees and reverses itself. This
swaps about two feet of space between the cab and the
bed, meaning the designers could cut down the overall
length of the vehicle by 2 feet - further reducing weight.
One person can transform the truck from two rows of seats
with a very short bed to one row of seats with a medium
length bed in under 1 minute.
Similar and related vehicles:
GM Chaparral Volt
GM AUTOnomy
GM Hy-Wire
GM Sequel
GM EcoJet (by Jay Leno)
GMC PAD
GMC Denali XT
GMC Terradyne
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