Mini’s Urbanaut concept is a room on wheels that we have already seen and will see again

On Tuesday, Mini showed the world its new concept car. It’s essentially an electrically powered wheeled room filled with interesting and clever design details. There isn’t much here that we haven’t seen before in various forms since the 1930s, but it’s a solid idea, and if you’re thinking in terms of a self-contained future, it’s a design that makes a lot of sense. One caveat, though: Most of the terms and how the Mini marketing team decided to describe this car will make you feel uncomfortable. So be careful.

The Urbanaut is, essentially, an electric van. It’s a one-box design (they call it a “purist mono volume” in the press release, just like a little way to prep the eyes for all the rolling they’re about to do) and the interior is a flexible space that can be configured as a living space, not locked in the forward-facing rows of conventional cars, a new idea with a lot of charm that has been around since the 1935 Stout Scarab:

It is also the basic concept behind driving, for example, a Volkswagen camper like a normal car, or the Honda S-MX Kei van that they once built for Japanese young adults to get busy, or other concept machines we have seen before. And, of course, the new VW ID Buzz is a lot in this category.

When it comes to a single box design, Mini has already played around with this idea, with them 1995 concept car with rear engine, Spiritual and Spiritual Too.

I am not saying this to discredit Urbanaut. I think the wheeled camera design is actually fantastic and has the potential to make a car much more usable, as it provides purpose and function even when it’s not being driven, and in that context, I think the Mini concept does a great job.

The use of space within Urbanaut is excellent, and Mini even manages to do something that almost all of these other wheeled room ideas have failed to do: how to effectively fit the driving area into a living area when not. are you moving?

Mini’s very clever solution uses a front swivel captain’s chair. The entire dashboard of the Urbanaut and the instrument panel collapse, then it becomes a kind of sofa / lounge in the front of the car a solution that I had never really seen before.

It’s only possible thanks to electric car platforms that are like skateboards and drive-by-wire technologies since there are no bulky motors or steering columns on the road.

This setup also allows an opening windshield, like the old Safari windows in a VW Type 2, to really shine as a cool feature. You can sit there, enjoy the breeze while taking a nap on what used to be your dashboard a few minutes ago.

Another very clever little detail has to do with this round LCD screen mounted inside:

It works both as a multipurpose infotainment unit, but also folds down to be used as a desk lamp for that little desk / coffee table there, which is really smart.

You can see it in action in this in-depth video from one of the concept’s lead designers, but I have to warn you, the video gives you the full, unconditional punch of Mini’s marketing bullshit, and it’s a lot to take.

For example, it introduces the concept of “Mini Moments” and talks about how the three types of Moments, called “Chill”, “Wanderlust” and “Vibe” will react, and when you hear these talks about your body it will react like any healthy person, and you will probably start throwing up, so please be careful.

I wasn’t prepared and it got a little bit in my nose and it was terrible. They also call the back bEnch area the “cozy corner”, then once again look at it on an empty stomach or hold a bucket tightly between your knees, ready to accept any ejection.

Everything good? Okay, here it is:

Nearly fatal levels of shuddering preciousness aside, I really like this concept. Mini isn’t breaking new ground here, but this one appears to be an excellent one, carefully thought out and designed to interpret what I hope will be a next category of flexible one-box vehicles that can fit to be small living spaces.

These vehicles can be great for camping, commuting, eat drive-through and generally adds a new and useful volume of space in which to do anything.

I don’t imagine the production versions will be anywhere near as elaborate as this one, but even if the basic concept of the flexible room does, it will be good. We have known for decades that such vehicles have real value and use, and it is time for a new batch to hit the roads, made even better by the new packaging options offered by EV transmissions.

We just don’t listen to public relations people talking about it.