Auto Car | GMC PAD 2006 | The GMC PAD is based on the idea of a mobile urban loft -- a one-room apartment meant for one person, or two if they don't mind being extremely close to each other. Instead of renting from a landlord and paying the often sky-high SoCal rent rates, the owner of a PAD just lives in it, and makes his home wherever he happens to be parked. To get to work, the PAD owner just parks his "mobile urban loft" near the office and walks, avoiding the necessity of commuting on clogged highways. Better still, he can use the PAD's on-board technology to work directly from within the PAD itself. The PAD is a high-tech motor home made for living in full-time, not just for weekend trips. It's packed with the latest communications equipment and amenities, which is why GMC calls it a Living Activity Vehicle, or LAV.
The GMC PAD doesn't actually exist, however. General Motors' Advanced Design Team created it for the California Design Challenge, a contest held at the 2006 Los Angeles Auto Show. The theme for the challenge was "An L.A. Adventure." Ten different companies, including Hyundai, Scion, Maybach, Mercedes-Benz and Audi, came up with concepts to reflect the wide variety of activities available in Southern California.
A panel of design experts gave first place to the GMC PAD. Tom Matano, a panel judge and director of Industrial Design for the Academy of Art University, called the PAD "the true all-around vehicle. This creates a new segment between the RV and the SUV. The future of this Living Activity Vehicle would appeal to many buyers including corporations, future homeowners, traveling business people and constant travelers looking to go beyond the stereotypical RV" [ref].
Statistics about the PAD are hard to come by, since it only exists as a computer design. It is comparable in size to a modern motor home -- in fact, it's probably shorter than some of the huge motor homes on the market. It looks very wide, but for practical purposes, it can't be any wider than a standard traffic lane. Specific weight numbers are not available, though it would likely be comparable to a standard motor home. A 25-foot motor home weighs about 10,000 lbs. and uses a 300-horsepower engine. Space-age materials such as composites could reduce the weight, but the weight of the communications equipment could compensate for that savings.
Source : auto.howstuffworks.com
The GMC PAD doesn't actually exist, however. General Motors' Advanced Design Team created it for the California Design Challenge, a contest held at the 2006 Los Angeles Auto Show. The theme for the challenge was "An L.A. Adventure." Ten different companies, including Hyundai, Scion, Maybach, Mercedes-Benz and Audi, came up with concepts to reflect the wide variety of activities available in Southern California.
A panel of design experts gave first place to the GMC PAD. Tom Matano, a panel judge and director of Industrial Design for the Academy of Art University, called the PAD "the true all-around vehicle. This creates a new segment between the RV and the SUV. The future of this Living Activity Vehicle would appeal to many buyers including corporations, future homeowners, traveling business people and constant travelers looking to go beyond the stereotypical RV" [ref].
Statistics about the PAD are hard to come by, since it only exists as a computer design. It is comparable in size to a modern motor home -- in fact, it's probably shorter than some of the huge motor homes on the market. It looks very wide, but for practical purposes, it can't be any wider than a standard traffic lane. Specific weight numbers are not available, though it would likely be comparable to a standard motor home. A 25-foot motor home weighs about 10,000 lbs. and uses a 300-horsepower engine. Space-age materials such as composites could reduce the weight, but the weight of the communications equipment could compensate for that savings.
Source : auto.howstuffworks.com
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