There is underlying issue as to why we generate so much automotive and electronic waste in our landfills. The issues of a ‘fast-changing-high-technology-market’ and ‘planned obsolescence’ which greatly stimulate demand of more and superior products by encouraging consumers to buy again quicker, creating a vast amount of obsolete products which eventually turn up in our landfills. In terms of vehicles, we can observe these trends by analyzing the average time periods between the initial purchase and re-purchase of a new vehicle. For example, families traditionally will make a purchase decision highly based on safety and convenience features on the vehicle. Once the vehicle ages and features like airbags, curtain airbags, ECS are not integrated in the vehicle, the consumer, who’s not able to update or upgrade, will look to switch to a newer vehicle. Other, image-conscious consumers based consumers would make a repurchase to keep up with aesthetic trends. Business-orientated consumers look to stay active and work efficiently in the world of a fast changing high technology market. Often the lack of being able to update their products it forces them to repurchase a similar product although with enhanced technology.  

The Traditional three R’s are recycling, reduce and reuse and are already being implemented. Recycling is a huge contributor to the sustainability of our environment and ensures that materials are salvaged wherever possible. There is however usually a drawback, when considering some of the energy outputs in recycling certain materials involved within an automotive system. Equally, the idea of reducing the amount of material used in products has become an inevitable fact of any sustainable design approaches. Minimizing number of components and decreasing overall volume of material evidently helps to reduce weight on a vehicle, with leads to more efficient use of fuel and abridged manufacturing and design processes. Although, it is not always feasible to reduce material usage and components as it can conflict with desired design specifications for a design outcome, consequently it will not always have a major environmentally sustainable impact on the product. Both, recycle and reduce, make economic and financial sense by reducing cost for manufactures, hence are usually introduced into a product’s lifecycle.

The idea behind this project is to maximize the use of products and their components. It is also trying to give users the ability to personalize and customize their vehicle so they accomplish a greater bond with the product to encourage an extended lifecycle.  Essentially, it is meant to extend and broaden their capabilities shifting the paradigm of their usually lifecycle into a whole lot of new directions where obsolete products/components are not necessarily considered useless, but form part of the system and are considered beneficial and, contribute to external products by separate integration. Creating alternative lifecycles for both the product and its components, similar to Product Service Systems will contribute to ensure the consumer is been kept updated to suit his/her need and assist in making the product environmentally credible.

The system gives vehicle users the choice to upgrade interior components when a replacement is required. As different owners acquire the vehicle, with different needs and requirements, the interior can be optimized to suit them more specifically.

The design is optimized by dividing the interior into different and separate modules. They are; the dashboard, seating, storage and interior panel trim. This type of arrangement and design allows for easier disassembly and exchange of specific components when they are about to be upgraded.

The returned interior modules are then disassembled efficiently with use of Shape changing polymers (SMP) which are used predominately as fasteners throughout parts. Components and mechanisms are salvaged where possible and reused in secondary products.