Turin design school’s electric car is a six-seater sneaker for Geneva

The Istituto Europeo di Design (IED) will hop across the Alps to introduce a futuristic electric city car at the 2020 edition of the Geneva Motor Show. Named Tracy, it was developed by students in its master’s program.

The Tracy stretches 147 inches long, meaning it’s just seven inches longer than a Fiat 500, yet it offers space for six passengers on sofa-like asymmetrical seats. Italian magazine Quattroruote learned this configuration was made possible by using an electric motor, which is far more compact than a comparable gasoline-burning engine. Large glass surfaces give the passengers a sense of space not normally associated with such a small car.

Viewed from the outside, the Tracy looks a little bit like a Smart ForTwo that dressed up for a 2050-themed party. The bottom part of the body is gray, most of it is white, and there are several prominent yellow accents, notably on the panels that protect the front and rear glass. The lounge-esque interior eliminates cargo space so passengers who want to carry something bigger than a briefcase need to strap it to the front or the rear of the car. And, because buyers love SUVs, the Tracy gets a jacked-up suspension and Pirelli Scorpion ATR tires.

IED hasn’t said much about what’s under the body. We know the Tracy is fully electric and it offers all-wheel drive, but its maximum driving range and its performance figures remain secret. The students who created the concept studied design, not engineering, so what makes it go is understandably less important than how it looks.

There are no concrete plans to bring the Tracy to production, but it sheds light on how the next generation of designers envisions tomorrow’s city cars. Something like it could pop up in the world’s urban centers in the coming decades, or even sooner — this Jaguar Land Rover transport pod is headed for the streets of Coventry, England, next year. As for what we’ll race, Bugatti designer Max Lask floated the idea of a hypercar that runs on ions.

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