Italdesign has partnered up with DongFeng, one of the largest Chinese automakers, to create an upmarket electric vehicle brand called ‘Voyah’. This new brand and its first concept, the ‘i-LAND’, were unveiled to the public at China Auto 2020.
Although the car and the brand are Chinese, Italdesign claim responsibility for the entire development phase of the i-LAND. Both interior and exterior design was done in-house.
This includes the human-machine interface found inside the car as well as the ‘Voyah’ logo. The i-Land features a low-slung silhouette along with gull-wing doors and a centrally-positioned logo round the back.
These are all characteristics of an earlier EV concept shown by Italdesign called the ‘DaVinci’. That being said, the Voyah i-LAND looks a lot different compared to that one.
DongFeng will develop the platform for the car known as ‘ESSA’, or “Electric Smart & Secure Architecture. It’s not known how much power or range this electric vehicle will eventually have in its production guise, but we’ll keep tabs on Voyah and their future endeavours.
Here’s the press release with more.
PRESS RELEASE
There is a lot of Italy in the i-LAND project, world premiered at the 2020 Beijing Auto Show. All of the development phases of the Dongfeng concept have been the responsibility of Italdesign, from the interior and exterior styling to the development of the on-board human-machine interface, thru to the engineering development and the concept construction.
As well as the corporate logo of Voyah, a sub-brand of the Chinese house, dedicated to luxury electric mobility.
To Voyah management, cars are not only smart and technological objects, but real vital and open ecosystems. Inspired by this philosophy, designers and engineers at Italdesign have created i-LAND, combining ergonomics and cutting-edge technology with innovative aesthetic solutions, always aiming at blending form and function.
Light, silent and elegant
i-LAND exteriors are inspired by the great Italian tradition of Gran Turismo cars, taking advantage of ESSA (Electric, Smart & Secure Architecture) electric platform, made available by the Chinese brand, to obtain a low and tapered profile.
The typical “exotic” features of a concept are concentrated in the large gull-wing doors, allowing front and rear row passengers access the car at the same time, front and rear light clusters and the LED-illuminated front grille.
The particular design of the front lights, officially called “winged headlights”, strongly characterize the i-LAND, making it recognizable even in the dark, and generates directly from the Voyah logo positioned at the center of the grille. Being Italdesign also responsible for the creation of the corporate logo, the stylistic development of the car went hand in hand with the creation of the corporate logo.
The rear of the concept car explicitly recalls the Italian tradition of Gran Turismo cars with a classic truncated tail and combines aesthetic element and aerodynamic function.
In the top view, the sculpture of the bonnet takes up the design language of the Chinese house brand, perfectly harmonized also in the design of the grille.
Groundbreaking interiors
Voyah i-LAND features head-turning interiors with its three-seat layout, offering a station at the rear right end for relax and smart working, as the seat next to the driver has been replaced by an element that can become a table or footrest if necessary.
A series of floating screens for both the driving aiding and infotainment systems characterize the dashboard.
Some aesthetic elements enhance the general feeling of luxury experienced on board the car, such as the vanes positioned in the central tunnel, with the start stop button, the gear selection and the air conditioning, that recall the Voyah logo, the car’s ceiling, as well as the seats seams.
The car is based on Voyah’s ESSA native smart electric architecture, that is set on the EIC technology, and integrates WindLink 4.0 intelligent network connection, L3 and higher-level intelligent driving and other core configurations. In terms of power and battery runtime, Voyah provides MVP (Multi-choice important power) solutions.
