China's GAC Motor first made its main-floor debut at the 2017 Detroit Auto Show. Now, in its third year, the automaker came to Detroit to show off a brand new concept. GAC Motor on Monday unveiled its Entranze EV concept at the 2019 Detroit Auto Show. Loaded with the kind of tech you expect in a concept these days, GAC created this seven seater with the great American road trip in mind. The Entranze looks similar to Chrysler's Portal minivan concept from CES 2017. The front lights follow the form of the front end closely, while the rear lights are tucked up under the glass. There are some big ol' openings on the sides that make ingress and egress a breeze. Since the Entranze is electric, there's no internal combustion engine to take up a bunch of space. And the wheels are pushed to the extreme ends of the body, allowing for even more space inside the vehicle. Enlarge Image Steven Pham/Roadshow The interior is the focus of this concept. Since it's woke to use environmentally friendly materials in 2019, GAC claims the Entranze's interior is made from more than 90 percent sustainable materials, including cork. The interior's 3+2+2 configuration is atypical, but you'll never hear me gripe about a front bench seat. The rocker panels on the side unfurl into steps, but they can also act as benches for just hangin' out on the roadside. The interior looks like a work of art, with interesting blends of materials, colors and textures. The tech isn't anything to shake a stick at, either. There are OLED screens all over the darn place -- there are two little screens flanking the steering wheel, two screens at each front corner and a massive screen directly in front of the passenger. Those screens will be necessary to keep boredom at bay because, like many newfangled concepts, the Entranze is also capable of autonomous driving. While the Entranze is unlikely to make it to production, at least without a slew of changes, GAC does intend to bring its products to the US. However, it's unclear when that will actually happen. Nevertheless, it's nice to have some extra eye candy in Detroit. Detroit Auto Show: Check out all the latest reveals. Concept cars: Soak in all the highfalutin tech and design.<doc-sep>This month’s Detroit Auto Show hosted a clutch of new releases that signposted big change coming down the road. Cadillac debuted its first EV concept, Nissan showed an upmarket all-electric SUV concept, the IMs, that builds on the groundwork laid by its big-selling Leaf electric car, and Chinese brand GAC debuted its Entranze Concept. This futuristic crossover-MPV was designed at the company’s Californian design studio by a team headed up by former Volvo and Volkswagen designer Pontus Fontaeus. With its flexible interior, four sets of sliding doors and high-sided, faceted design, the Entranze is suitably forward-looking. Inspiration came from aviation design and road trips, with the inside dictating the exterior form. We caught up with the Swedish designer to find out whether the Guangzhou Automobile Company held the keys to future mobility. Wallpaper*: How does the new concept create a clear space in the market at a time when car design is being transformed by EVs? Pontus Fontaenus: The GAC Entranze is unique in that the design approach really follows the most recent rendition of what our human needs reflect in an experience travelling from one point to the other. It’s a very human centric design approach that takes a great deal of inspiration from elements that exist outside the traditional automotive segment. The Entranze is very a much a case of form follows user. We really wanted to think differently, and not fall down the more traditional automotive rabbit holes. W*: What are the key visual elements that will help build this brand? Pontus Fontaenus: Right now, the Entranze is a concept that looks to redefine what the future of motoring could look like. Our design team really endeavoured to fully embrace the new freedoms that an EV platform allows in terms of layout. It’s also interesting in that the Entranze is the first product from our new North American GAC Design Studio located in Orange County, California. One of our key inspirations was the celebrated tradition of the American road trip. We really set out to design a very special vehicle that offers passengers the ability to enjoy their driving experience with the ones closest to them. There is such a delicious freedom to that. It sounds simple, but the best things usually are. And, simple is often very hard to achieve. W*: How difficult is it to match the drama of a concept car with a production vehicle? PF: For the Entranze, some of the key elements present a holistic take on clear inside/out forms and graphics. Our designers did include some halcyon hints of great American car design while drawing strategic inspiration from aerospace and consumer technology. Our inspirations always gravitated towards designs that push boundaries while looking to the future. I will admit with our new design studio being so close to Los Angeles, we weren’t immune to including some small designs cues pulled from our favourite sci-fi Hollywood films. It’s amazing how what we consumed as impossible entertainment decades ago has now become the reality. More realistically, everything that we do at GAC conceptually is within reach of going into production. W*: Which car designers and brands do you really admire? PF: I have had the great privilege to meet and work with so many exceptional professionals throughout my extensive career. My inspirations are too many to count. I will say that many designers not only draw inspiration from each other, but also pull inspiration from other great creators in other fields such as chefs, musicians, authors, and filmmakers… On the automotive side, I have had the privilege to work with many great companies such as Ferrari, Land Rover, Volkswagen, Volvo, and now GAC, and I have admired my colleagues almost universally. Together, we are spearheading the future of transportation design. That’s exciting. W*: How are designers dealing with the changing perception of technologies like autonomous cars? PF: Autonomous vehicles are a great example of marketplace change. We are on the eve of the auto design game changing. Autonomous will present amazing opportunities from a design purveyor. If a car is fully automated and computerised, it should in theory be almost free of being accident prone. That will change layout significantly. Autonomous vehicles offer the opportunity to dramatically change established designs, and integrate new elements of space, entertainment, and comfort. The Entranze is inspired by these concepts. However, personally I feel the day of being completely autonomous is still yet to come. It is an exciting time to be a designer, and witness how technology is changing our conceptions of what an automobile should be. At GAC, we embraced that for the Entranze. W*: What is your personal favourite element of this design? PF: I am extremely pleased that the Entranze is not a product of one or two designers, but rather a completely collaborative effort. The concept has a very harmonious feel to it. Apart from the interesting proportions of the design, there is a seamless flow between the interior and exterior. I particularly enjoy the beautiful wing-shaped front fender that delves into the front windshield and then gracefully materialises again as struts holding up the upper instrument wing. Another design point that we adore are the rocker panels that fold down and double again as a seating area when the car is parked. Designing the Entranze was a real joy. There are subtle layers which are learned the more time one looks at the vehicle. The whole design process was refreshing and liberating, which is what designing a car should be. §<doc-sep>Previous Next 1 of 10 Chinese automaker GAC Motor has its sights set on the United States. The company, which sells cars in China under the Trumpchi and Gonow brands, has had a presence at the Detroit Auto Show for the past two years and discussed plans to sell cars here. For the 2019 Detroit Auto Show, GAC brought an all-electric crossover concept called the Entranze that it claims was designed in the U.S. The seven-seat Entranze concept is the first product of GAC’s new California design studio, headed by Pontus Fontaeus. He’s worked with automakers as diverse as Ferrari, Land Rover, and Volvo, according to GAC. More recently, he was director interior design at Faraday Future before leaving the troubled startup in October 2017. Fontaeus’ first car for his new employer has more than a little in common with the Faraday Future’s FF 91. Like that long-delayed electric car, the Entranze is a largely shapeless thing that looks like a futuristic minivan. It even has sliding doors, which are mostly glass. That looks cool but probably isn’t great for crash safety. To be fair, GAC said the Entranze was designed from the inside out. GAC said the concept was designed to be the “ultimate road trip vehicle,” with plenty of room for both people and stuff on the inside. Interestingly, the Entranze has a three-person bench seat in the front, something that used to be very common on U.S.-market cars, but has since disappeared except for on the occasional pickup truck. Two rows of two seats each are located behind the front row, bringing the total number of seats to seven. Previous Next 1 of 7 Ronan GlonDigital Trends Ronan GlonDigital Trends Ronan GlonDigital Trends Ronan GlonDigital Trends Ronan GlonDigital Trends Ronan GlonDigital Trends Ronan GlonDigital Trends Like fellow Chinese firm Byton, GAC crammed the Entranze’s dashboard full of screens, even wedging two small OLED screens into the corners where the dashboard meets the doors. The driver also gets touch controls on the steering wheel, and GAC claims most functions can be controlled using a built-in voice assistant. The Entranze also sports a small trolley that slides down the middle of the car and. In keeping with its all-electric powertrain, 90 percent of the interior materials are made of cork, according to GAC. GAC did not discuss any specifications, including what the prospects for a production version of the Entranze might be. The automaker previously said that it wanted to begin selling cars in the U.S. in 2019, but ongoing tensions between the U.S. and Chinese governments over trade could prevent that. If it does go forward with a U.S. launch, GAC will likely start with more conventional vehicles like the GS5 SUV and GMC minivan that will be displayed alongside the Entranze in Detroit. Editors' Recommendations<doc-sep>
Photos: GAC GAC Motor, one of China’s biggest auto manufacturers, is looking to break into the American market this year. When it announced a new EV concept for this year’s Detroit Auto Show—the Entranze—it could only be with the intention of making a big splash. And with an innovative interior design centered around environmentally sustainable materials, they may do just that. GAC has had a sizable presence at the Detroit Auto Show for the past few years, showing off a range of SUVs, sedans and minivans to American shoppers, even though its vehicles aren’t for sale here yet. That could well change this year, however, and this concept is meant to showcase the company’s ambitions and technology. The Entranze is a seven-seater half-van half-SUV crossover—with something of a twist. While many of our seven-seaters here in the States are a 2+2+3 configuration, GAC is debuting a 3+2+2 configuration. That’s right, baby. Bench seats are back! GAC is calling the Entranze a “hyper-modern family vehicle” and the “ultimate road trip car”. With everything from a vaguely defined enhanced ergonomics system to an electric powertrain to two OLED screens in the dashboard as opposed to one, GAC is trying to make this a car that you feel good about driving. See, they’ve incorporated a ton of environmentally-friendly materials in the interior—things like cork—to make the Entranze a truly remarkable feat of design. Creating zero-emissions EVs is one thing. Making sure those vehicles are made of sustainable materials is entirely another. And the press release makes it out to be very user friendly: rocker panels can be used as steps, it’s autopilot ready, it has a storage trolley that can be stored between seats, the windows are sliding panels that can break the barrier between indoors and out, and it’s spacious. The Entranze was designed by GAC Executive Design Director Pontus Fontaeus at the automaker’s Los Angeles design center—GAC’s first vehicle ever designed there. Fontaeus has an impressive resumé, having done design work for manufacturers like Volvo, Ferrari, Kia, and Faraday Future. Designing a sustainable car intended to break into the American market from an entirely foreign maker may be one of his most ambitious projects yet. Before you get too excited, remember that the Entranze concept is just that: a concept. GAC has been pretty tight-lipped about the exact specs or production of this thing, specifically regarding its powertrain. The press release mentions that it doesn’t have a traditional front-engine powertrain and is thus unconstrained by traditional engineering, but it doesn’t offer many specifics about what that’s supposed to mean. Still, if GAC is looking to make a big splash stateside, something creative like the Entranze could be the way to go. With added sustainability features and a luxe exterior, GAC might have just found its niche. From Jason Torchinsky, on the floor at Detroit: Despite the goofy name and obvious concept-car vaguery, the Entranze is a well-thought out concept, and is a pretty good basic design. There’s a lot of novel thinking here, from the fold-down rocker panels designed to convert to benches to the dual, opposite-direction sliding doors. The interior space is very well considered and this actually would make a great road-trip vehicle, if it actually existed. I suspect people would want more privacy than those transparent sides provide, but that seems like something easy to resolve in a similar production vehicle. Overall, this is a well-thought out concept; I’m curious to see if it actually leads to any influence in production vehicles, which is by far the hardest part of these things. At 2018's Detroit show the company announced it planned to start selling cars in the U.S. by 2019 and it’s trying to recruit American dealers to do exactly that. But one thing that could throw a wrench into the whole affair is the possible trade war between the U.S. and China. Though talks remain underway until a March 1 deadline and decisions seem to change almost weekly, America’s planned 25 percent tariff on finished vehicles built in China could undercut GAC’s value proposition in the market, or delay its entry entirely. As Automotive News also reports, GAC has chosen Irvine, California as its U.S. base for now, to do sales, marketing, finance and product planning. It’s also opening an R&D center in Michigan. We’ll see what happens with the tariffs, but this company is very poised to break into America soon.