Shanghai – General Motors and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. opened their joint pavilion at World Expo 2010 Shanghai to the public for the first time Monday during an event attended by media and Expo 2010 officials.
Reflecting the Expo 2010 theme of “Better City, Better Life,” GM and SAIC are providing a holistic experience, highlighting the future of sustainable mobility. As the joint global automobile partner of World Expo 2010 Shanghai, GM and SAIC are presenting a revolutionary mobility and transportation concept that looks ahead to the year 2030.
“It is a vision of future driving that is free from petroleum, free from emissions, free from crashes, free from congestion, and at the same time fun and fashionable,” said Kevin Wale, President and Managing Director of the GM China Group. “We are proud to be showcasing solutions that will make this vision a reality at our corporate pavilion at World Expo 2010 Shanghai.”
The SAIC-GM Pavilion, which is situated in the Puxi Section of Shanghai Expo Park, will officially open to the public on May 1.
The SAIC-GM Pavilion and the fluid lines of its exterior were inspired by nature and an automobile body. Symbolizing the road to the future, the spiral design conveys promise and progressiveness, outlining a road that links the present with the future. Visitors will immediately be attracted to the pavilion’s outer curtain wall, which is constructed of 4,000 curved aluminum panels.
The facade is accentuated by a 300-square-meter LED screen. Dubbed the “Angel’s Eye,” the screen will feature video, pictures and useful information. It will also give visitors a hint of what they can expect once they go inside.
Inside, the pavilion has been divided into Pre-Show, Main Show and Post-Show areas, which highlight the theme of “Drive to 2030.”
Getting on the Road to 2030
The Pre-Show area sets the stage. Visitors will relive Shanghai’s fast development over the past two decades. Five themed areas – Out of Gas, Traffic Jam, Parking Difficulty, Traffic Accident and Difficulty Driving – will show some of the challenges related to economic development and the growing number of motor vehicles. Further into the pavilion, visitors will find that solutions to all of these challenges have been found through sustainable mobility, enabled by electrification, connectivity and autonomous driving.
Welcoming 2030
In the Main Show area, visitors will be shown into one of four theaters, each with a curved screen that is 6.5 meters tall and 38 meters wide. All four screens have a visual angle of 144 degrees. Seated in zero-delay motion seats, visitors will be immersed in a movie created especially for the pavilion by a world-renowned team of professionals.
The movie is entitled “2030, Xing!” It shows how electrification, networking and autonomous driving will enable humans to coexist harmoniously with the natural environment. Through the 10-minute film, SAIC and GM will convey how tomorrow’s transportation will bring people and personal transportation closer together.
Among the concept vehicles being displayed are the EN-V, YeZ and Shell. GM’s EN-V (which is short for Electric Networked-Vehicle) integrates electrification and connectivity, redefining the DNA of the automobile. The two-wheel electric vehicle also has autonomous driving capability, offering a practical solution for increasingly crowded urban areas.
The YeZ highlights SAIC’s idea of a vehicle that can absorb CO2 and water molecules in the air and, like an actual leaf, convert them into power for the vehicle through a series of chemical reactions. It would work during both sunny and overcast days while also being able to leverage wind power. This would enable mobility with zero greenhouse gas emissions.
The Shell was also developed by SAIC. It is not only an automobile, but also a bedroom, office and gym.
The partners will show that the urban area of the future will be much unlike our cities of today. Traffic networks will crisscross each other in a neat fashion, maximizing limited urban space. Integrated, levitated and elevated roads will appear, merging trains and cars.
It will be an era of intelligent transportation powered by electricity, with vehicles, buildings and public facilities seamlessly connected. It will also be an era in which traffic congestion and traffic accidents are consigned to the history books.
At the conclusion of the movie, the four screens will fall, combining the four theaters into one large arena. A stage show will offer a theatrical performance, with concept vehicles interacting with live performers. The vehicles displayed in the movie will then appear on a rising stage with melodious music playing in the background. This will demonstrate that the vision portrayed in the movie is already on the road to being realized.
2030 is Coming
In the Post-Show area, visitors will again see that the 2030 vision portrayed in the movie is achievable. They will have the chance to get close to the vehicles shown in the movie in addition to other advanced technologies that GM and SAIC are working on. The setting will be framed by the city of the future.
The Post-Show area has eight sections: Welcome Corridor, Traffic Hub, Satellite City, Central Business District, Apartment Life, Window to the Future, Future Outlook, and Souvenir Sales. They will show the vital link of the automobile in people’s lives while further educating visitors about SAIC and GM’s vision of urban transportation in 2030.
In the Future Outlook section, visitors will interact with the year 2030. They will be able to have their pictures taken in 2030. They will be able to access their photos on the official pavilion website using a password. Before leaving the Post-Show area, SAIC-GM Pavilion visitors will be able to purchase souvenirs to remind themselves of their journey into the future.
Visiting the SAIC-GM Pavilion
Those who wish to visit the SAIC-GM Pavilion can now book their reservations online at the official pavilion website (www.our2030.com). Fast passage is being made available for visitors who book online. Additionally, visitors will be able to make reservations on site or wait in line at the pavilion on the day they wish to visit.
World Expo 2010 Shanghai runs from May 1 through October 31.
