PREVIEW

A car that can drive passengers overnight while they sleep has been unveiled.

Created by designer Peter Stulz and his studio Xoio, the Swift Pod features a hotel-room-like interior in which passengers can relax and rest while the car automatically drives them to a long-distance destination.

The name was reportedly inspired by a bird that can fly while sleeping.

“Our design team has always been fascinated by night trains and waking up at one’s destination after a decent sleep,” Stulz said in a statement.

“We were looking for sustainable ways to travel, and since night trains were struggling to run cost-efficiently, we conceived an idea to fill that gap in the field of individual and autonomous transport.”

Stulz is a designer based in Berlin, where German rail company Deutsche Bahn discontinued its night trains in 2016.

The company’s CEO at the time, Fernverkehr AG Birgit Bohle, justified the decision by citing the “forecast of the profitability of night train services” as “strongly negative”.

The Swift Pod can accommodate up to two passengers at a time – who can either sit upright and use the provided foldable desks or lay down on each of the two single beds situated in the cabin’s corners.

Any luggage could be stored in spaces underneath the vehicle’s beds and seats.

The concept included a media system and food and beverages provided.

A side profile of the Stulz design reveals two giant wheels attached to a low-sitting spacious cabin.

However, the vehicle features three wheels – with the frame sloping down and forming a triangle.

“We chose to stick with the iconic triangular shape to emphasise the narrative in a multimodal future of transportation,” Stulz explained. “Our design team is fully aware that the chosen design is very minimalistic.”

The designer argued that the minimalistic design would reduce noise and distraction from outside the cabin.

He posited that the Swift Pod could be booked like a taxi using an app, reserved for a specific time and date in advance.

The vehicle would autonomously calculate the optimal route to its passenger’s chosen destination.

The concept also considered the need for some passengers to break up longer rides, theorising that the autonomous system should provide an option for passengers to input stopovers and break schedules en route.

Further, the system should suggest possible break and stopover areas, such as local eateries and tourism hubs.