How do you apply systems thinking to create sustainable automotive designs?

1 What is systems thinking?

Systems thinking is a mindset that views the world as a network of interconnected and interdependent parts. It helps you identify the root causes, feedback loops, leverage points, and unintended consequences of a problem or opportunity. Systems thinking also encourages you to think holistically, creatively, and long-term, rather than focusing on isolated components, linear relationships, and short-term goals.

2 Why is systems thinking important for sustainable automotive design?

Sustainable automotive design is the practice of creating vehicles that minimize their negative impacts on the environment and society, while maximizing their positive benefits. It requires you to consider the entire life cycle of your product, from the extraction of raw materials, to the manufacturing, use, and disposal of the vehicle. Systems thinking can help you understand how your design decisions affect the whole system, not just your product. It can also help you find innovative ways to improve the efficiency, performance, and durability of your vehicle, while reducing its emissions, waste, and resource consumption.

3 How do you apply systems thinking to your automotive design process?

One way to apply systems thinking to your automotive design process is to use a framework or tool that guides you through the different stages of analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. For example, you can use the Circular Design Guide, which is a set of methods and principles for creating circular products and services. Circular design aims to eliminate waste and pollution, keep materials and products in use, and regenerate natural systems. The Circular Design Guide consists of four phases: understand, define, make, and release. Each phase has a set of questions, tools, and examples to help you apply systems thinking to your design challenge.

4 What are some examples of sustainable automotive design solutions?

Sustainable automotive design solutions that use systems thinking to address the environmental and social challenges of mobility are numerous. Electric vehicles (EVs) are a great example, as they can reduce emissions, air pollution, and noise pollution while lowering operating and maintenance costs. However, EVs have some challenges, such as battery availability and sustainability, infrastructure for charging, and end-of-life management. Systems thinking can help design EVs with optimized life cycle impacts. Shared mobility is another example, which can reduce traffic congestion, vehicle ownership, parking demand, and emissions while increasing accessibility and affordability for users. Challenges include safety, privacy, convenience of users, regulation and governance of services, and integration and coordination of modes. Systems thinking can help design shared mobility solutions that balance the needs of users, providers, and communities. Autonomous vehicles (AVs) have the potential to improve safety, efficiency, comfort of transportation while enabling new services for users. Challenges include reliability and security of technology, ethical and legal implications of decisions, and social/cultural acceptance of users. Systems thinking can help design AVs by considering human, technical and environmental factors that influence performance/behavior/interaction as well as potential risks/opportunities they create for society.

5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?