Taipei, Taiwan – 19 September 2019 – XING Mobility™, a developer of electric vehicle (EV) battery systems and technology, has announced the fruit of its collaboration with Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), in launching a complete redesign of the Institute’s fully electric and autonomous bus.

According to Co-founder and CEO, Royce Hong, XING Mobility is providing design-to-build services in order to offer the complete range of services required for advanced vehicle integration and to deliver an enhanced user experience to its customers. The company has honed its full-vehicle design capability through developing its own electric supercar, Miss R, and is now applying the team's advanced design, styling, and prototyping know-how to deliver immersive, futuristic experiences of innovative driving technology to other industries.

This week, ITRI stated that the autonomous bus project with XING Mobility has transformed the way that drivers and passengers interact with the vehicle, through the complete re-design of the exterior structure and interior layout. With features including smart displays and LED warning lights, the project is helping to promote community-friendly interactive technology that connects bus users with pedestrians

Beginning with a blank canvas, XING Mobility developed the exterior aesthetic by envisaging the limitless potential of future urban environments, before shaping the design in accordance with the predicted needs, developments and efficiencies of cities in coming generations. The team sought to truly differentiate from the experience of riding in a present-day bus by creating a “moving architecture”; taking principles and inspiration derived from modern architecture and applying them to this public transit vehicle. To achieve this, XING Mobility’s designers focused on creating strong, architectural lines on the exterior of the vehicle, and maximizing space in the interior cabin to achieve a modern, subway-like space.

The exterior structure is shaped by a clean and minimalistic metallic frame, which forms a protective shell over a large glass structure. The front and rear feature eye-catching horizontal elements that extend to the corners of the lidars, forming tapered, geometric windows, maximizing light and visibility. This unique silhouette is highlighted by futuristic LED lighting which changes color according to the vehicle’s status (whether “Stop”, or “In Transit”).

The company’s use of forward-thinking design elements continues to the interior where, using extensive spatial structure know-how, the design team sought to create a modern fusion of technology and nature. The cabin features floating, daylight-opening seating built from recycled materials that deliberately eliminates sharp edges and offers additional storage space under the bench that extends to the front cabin to become an umbrella stand. The finishing touches, which include continuous lines of LED lighting and semi-transparent displays and touchscreen panels, seek to move and re-establish the current benchmarks of public transit ergonomics.

XING Mobility’s head designer Alex Chou said about the project: “It has been great to work with ITRI in developing an autonomous vehicle that truly solves existing problems in public transit design and gets people excited about what the future holds for both electric vehicle technology and autonomous driving. Although this started as a design project, the team became heavily involved in engineering and fabrication methods and I’m proud of the result”.

About XING Mobility
XING Mobility is a provider of automotive-grade electric vehicle battery and powertrain systems for specialty applications. Using extensive experience and know-how derived from designing and making electric supercars and racecars, XING Mobility delivers a range of drivetrain technology products and engineering services designed to empower any and every vehicle maker to go electric.

For more information visit www.xingmobility.com or follow @xingmobility on Twitter/ Facebook and @xingmob on Instagram.

About ITRI
Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) is one of the world’s leading technology R&D institutions aiming to innovate a better future for society. Founded in 1973, ITRI has played a vital role in transforming Taiwan's industries from labor-intensive into innovation-driven. It focuses on the fields of Smart Living, Quality Health, and Sustainable Environment. Over the years, ITRI has incubated over 280 innovative companies, including well-known names such as UMC and TSMC. In addition to its headquarters in Taiwan, ITRI has branch offices in the U.S., Europe, and Japan in an effort to extend its R&D scope and promote opportunities for international cooperation around the world. For more information, please visit https://www.itri.org/eng.