Subaru’s SHARC Wins Highway Patrol Vehicle 2025 Competition at L.A. Auto Show With the automotive landscape constantly changing, law enforcement vehicles must also evolve. For this year’s L.A. Auto Show Design Challenge, designers were tasked with envisioning the Highway Patrol’s bad guy-foiling vehicle for the year 2025. Subaru Global Design’s SHARC (Subaru Highway Automated Response Concept) has been crowned the winner of the competition.
Subaru’s SHARC Wins Highway Patrol Vehicle 2025 Competition at L.A. Auto Show
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| Subaru’s SHARC Wins Highway Patrol Vehicle 2025 Competition at L.A. Auto Show |
Subaru’s SHARC Wins Highway Patrol Vehicle 2025 Competition at L.A. Auto Show
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| Subaru’s SHARC Wins Highway Patrol Vehicle 2025 Competition at L.A. Auto Show |
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Subaru’s SHARC Wins Highway Patrol Vehicle 2025 Competition at L.A. Auto Show
To satisfy the specific needs of Highway Patrol officers, the designs had to meet certain criteria, including speed and agility for future freeway systems and being a manageable size to navigate urban environments. In addition, entries were judged on considerations for tomorrow’s issues like the need for efficient powertrains, alternative fuels, meeting emission standards, as well as maintenance and recyclability concerns. The more creative the solution, the better.
The panel of judges included Tom Matano, executive director for the School of Industrial Design at Academy of Art University; Stewart Reed, Transportation Design chair at Pasadena’s Art Center College of Design; Imre Molnar, provost and chief academic officer at College for Creative Studies in Detroit; and founding chairman of the Petersen Automotive Museum and former racer Bruce Meyer serving as a guest judge. The judges were impressed with the level of innovation and creativity this year, but one entry stood out.
“The SHARC captured the vision of the Design Challenge theme by combining functionality and problem-solving technology around a dynamic and plausible story,” said Design Los Angeles director Chuck Pelly in a release.
That story takes place in Hawaii in the year 2025, where highway patrol budgets are shrinking just as they are elsewhere in the world. To meet this challenge, Subaru’s SHARC automated response vehicle was conceived as an affordable and environmentally conscious option offering 24-hour highway monitoring by land or air. Powered by renewable energy, the concept meets Hawaii’s strict UltraGreen carbon-neutral environmental regulations and eliminates the need for a large full-time highway patrol team.
Subaru’s win wasn’t a walk in the park, however, as the field of six competing entries was made up entirely of major automaker design studios. The entries were as diverse as they were radical, with vehicles ranging from the drone-deploying highway cruiser of BMW, to the hydrogen-powered, off-road-focused Mercedes-Benz Ener-G-Force. Here’s a quick rundown of the other competitors’ designs:
Mercedes-Benz Ener-G-Force
In Mercedes’ vision of 2025, the highway patrol requires an all-terrain vehicle that can pursue bad guys even in the most rugged environments. That vehicle is the Ener-G-Force, a bold preview of what the successor to the venerable G-Class might look like in the future. In keeping with the competition’s green requirements, the Ener-G-Force is hydrogen-powered, with water acting as fuel for the four individual electric wheel motors. Helping maintain the G-Class’ off-road reputation is a roof-mounted topographical scanner, which maps the terrain and adjusts the suspension accordingly. Mercedes was so proud of its entry, it built a full-scale version of the concept for this year’s L.A. Auto Show.
BMW E-Patrol
Looking more like a spaceship than a squad car, the E-Patrol design is BMW’s answer to Los Angeles’ law enforcement needs of 2025. BMW predicts that in 13 years L.A. will be more crowded, have faster cars, and utilize alternative fuel sources. To counter the problem of increased traffic, the E-Patrol is a two-passenger modular vehicle that can launch smaller drones to chase down a suspect. Depending on the situation, an officer can deploy either a flying drone or single-wheeled pursuit drone for cutting through traffic.
General Motors Volt Squad
GM submitted three designs, meant to work together as a bad guy-catching team to catch. Called the “Volt Squad,” the trio of futuristic vehicles consists of a cross between a motorcycle and a helicopter, a streamlined, fighter jet-like car, and a larger prisoner transport van – each respectively designated the specific roles of “Observe, Pursue, and Engage.” As you might guess from the team’s name, the vehicles utilize an advanced electric propulsion system – perhaps a great grandchild of the extended-range electric drivetrain used in the current Chevrolet Volt.
Honda Drone Squad
Honda had two entries in this year’s L.A. Auto Show contest, including one from the automaker’s Advanced Design Studio in California. Another drone-using design, the “Drone Squad” consists of two vehicles: an Auto-Drone mission control vehicle, which can be controlled with or without a driver and recalls the Honda Ridgeline’s front design, and deploy-able, two-wheeled Moto-Drones.
Honda “CHiPs” 2025 Traffic Crawler
From Honda R&D Japan comes this futuristic take on what the CHP will need in 2025. With traffic increasingly a problem, the Traffic Crawler is nimble, with two huge wheels and the ability to slice right through L.A.’s automated vehicle-to-vehicle highways. As you’d expect from a vehicle planned for 2025, the Traffic Crawler is a fuel-cell electric Honda.
So there you have it. The future of law enforcement could include ultra-lightweight, transformable robots like Subaru’s SHARC concept. Which future cop car design would you like to have protecting and serving you?
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2013 Honda Civic Says “Look at Me Now,” Accord PHEV Priced at $40,570 – 2012 L.A.
Well, that was fast. After all the bashing centered on the 2012 Honda Civic, it appears the new 2013 model has benefited from a speedy recovery. A trio of Civics including the Hybrid and Si took the stage at the 2012 L.A. Auto Show, causing a scene in an effort to say, “look at me now.”
It’s understandable the 2013 Honda Civic wants so much attention, as looks like a much more premium offering than the car it replaces. A new open mouth grille, reshaped hood, Accord-esque rear end, and spiffy new wheels are the most notable changes, but it gets much better inside the sedan. The materials used for the dashboard and headliner look more upscale, while a rear camera, Pandora, Bluetooth, and SMS texting come standard. It’s the little things that count, as a sliding center armrest also comes in every Civic. While changes are significant, the price increase for the new models isn’t. All 2013 models cost $160 more than the outgoing car, meaning the LX (DX has been dropped) starts at $18,955.
In addition to the aforementioned changes, the $21,605 EX adds new 16-inch alloy wheels, a mesh grille finished in gloss black, brushed aluminum garnishes on the door, and automatic climate control. The $24,555 top-trim EX-L with navigation gets all of the above plus leather seats, with new foglights and chrome trim on the lower valence. Meanwhile, the racier Si, which uses its six-speed manual to send all 201 horses to the front wheels, will set you back $23,505. The Hybrid also gets its helping of new additions for 2013, including a new grille, foglights, LED daytime running lights and taillights, standard satellite radio and Honda’s Forward Crash Warning and Lane Departure Warning.
The 2014 Honda Accord PHEV also made its debut alongside the Civic triplets, and was priced at $40,570. The plug-in hybrid is EPA rated at 115 MPGe, and has an EV range of 13 miles. The PHEV has a real presence with cool wheels that resemble a moving windmill and a wide grille. The PHEV goes on sale on January 15 in New York and California, where it also qualifies for HOV access. As for the non-plug-in Honda Accord hybrid, the automaker says the car is expected to be EPA-rated at 49/45 mpg city/highway.
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