Terranaut - earth’s equivalent of a lunar rover

Nissan has released more details of the large and imposing Terranaut which we previewed with design sketches a fortnight ago. The Terranaut is a mobile science laboratory, billed by Nissan as earth’s equivalent of a lunar rover, protecting its occupants from the environment so they can become part of it. Created by London-based Nissan Design Europe, the overriding theme behind the concept is one of function. Satellite information systems allow data access and transfer all over the planet. Terranaut has enough refrigerated storage space to house food, water and other provisions for a week in the field. Lightweight tents, sleeping bags built for extreme conditions and cooking facilities are ingenious built into storage compartments in the doors. This extensive article looks at the detail of the Terranaut’s design, and contrasts the Terranaut with Nissan’s other current show car destined for the Geneva Show – the PIVO. On one hand they couldn’t be more dissimilar. One is a diminutive yet innovative electric city car, the other a substantial four-wheel drive explorer. Although produced for two diametrically opposed habitats and physically at either extreme of car design boundaries, Pivo and Terranaut share some key elements: both, for example, have three seats and both feature rotating spherical ‘pods’ as a central part of their respective overall designs.

At first glance, Nissan’s two show cars for Geneva couldn’t be more dissimilar. One is a diminutive yet innovative electric city car, the other a substantial four-wheel drive explorer.

Yet the city-orientated Pivo and the go-anywhere Terranaut are linked by far more than the Nissan badges on their noses.

To the team of designers and planners who conceived it, both the metropolis and the most remote, unconquered areas of the globe are "fields for human adventures".

Although produced for two diametrically opposed habitats and physically at either extreme of car design boundaries, Pivo and Terranaut share some key elements: both, for example, have three seats and both feature rotating spherical ‘pods’ as a central part of their respective overall designs.

But, above all, both have been created to enhance mankind’s relationship with the world. The key idea for the planning and design team on both projects was: integration (in the environment, from the busy city, to the unexplored desert); seamless integration also in the daily life in terms of the optimised working space of Terranaut together with the ultra functional interior of Pivo. These extreme approaches are one way of exploring how to make the car interior a better place to be.

Crowded and polluted cities demand zero-emission vehicles that literally fit in to their surroundings. Pivo fulfils those requirements exactly thanks to its non-polluting electric power and its compact dimensions, which allow it to be threaded through the smallest gaps. And its remarkable rotating cabin – it swivels through a full 360 degrees – coupled with advanced drive-by-wire technology allows its user to drive in and out of parking slots without ever having to select reverse gear.

Terranaut, too, answers its design brief to the letter. Built for wild, often unfriendly environments, Terranaut has outstanding 4x4 capabilities to ensure it can go anywhere. Central to its role is the on-board laboratory housed in a rotating sphere to the rear of the vehicle where scientific workstations permit analysis of biological, geological and chemical samples in the field.

"Pivo and Terranaut embody everything Nissan is doing for the future. As well as showcasing many advanced technical solutions, both vehicles underline Nissan’s understanding of a changing world and the role the car will play in our lives in the years to come," said Shiro Nakamura, Senior Vice President Design, Nissan Motor Limited.

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