2012 LA Auto Show Design Challenge Entries Revealed

This year’s entries for the LA Auto Show Design Challenge have been revealed, giving us a glimpse of a few major automakers visions for the ultimate law enforcement patrol vehicle for the year 2025.

The 2012 entries are from BMW, General Motors, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, and Subaru.

From BMW is a 2025 scenario for the E-Patrol (Human-Drone Pursuit Vehicle) which features a main structure that can deploy three drones. General Motors created a new electric vehicle system called the Volt Squad which is a three-vehicle fleet. At the core of the vehicles’ architecture is the Volt’s electronic propulsion system.

Honda has two entries, one from its US-based design studio, and one from its Japan-based design studio. From America is a CHP Drone Squad, which is comprised of a two-vehicle system: the Auto-Drone operates as a manned or unmanned mission control vehicle, which deploys Moto-Drones which are unmanned motorcycles capable of being rigged for multiple response or rescue missions. From Japan is a 2025 Traffic Crawler, a new patrol vehicle that offers sport mobility with the toughness to respond in severe traffic conditions.

The other German entry comes from Mercedes-Benz and is an environmentally-friendly SUV called Ener-G-Force. Based on the G-Class, the Ener-G-Force is actually a look at what the G-Class could evolve into in the near future.

Lastly is the entry from Subaru called the Subaru Highway Automated Response Concept (SHARC). Boasting zero-emissions, the SHARC is powered by renewable energy and operates autonomously.

The entries will be judged by Tom Matano, the executive director at the School of Industrial Design at San Francisco’s Academy of Art University; Imre Molnar, provost and chief academic officer at Detroit’s College for Creative Studies; and Stewart Reed, chair of Transportation Design at Pasadena’s Art Center College of Design. This year’s guest judge, Bruce Meyer, is a board member of the California Highway Patrol 11-99 Foundation, former racer and past chairman of the Petersen Automotive Museum. The winner will be announced on November 29th.