Insight
Frank Stephenson argues aircraft designers should study marine hydrodynamics over standard aerodynamics
“Fish are much more efficient at creating aerodynamic shapes, or hydrodynamic shapes actually, than planes are. I think we're looking at the wrong direction. We should be looking under the sea as opposed to looking at standard aerodynamic shapes when we want to…”
Insight
Frank Stephenson says mass-market automakers suffer awful designer-engineer relationships unlike exotics
“The bread and butter companies have an awful relationship between the designers and the engineers, whereas the high flying, the exotics have a great relationship between the engineers and the designers.”
Insight
Frank Stephenson argues computers should never be used for initial design ideation
“So I think it's good to use computers, obviously, but I would never, ever believe in using a computer as a tool for creativity at the beginning. You can use it later, like I said, to give you variations and options and things like that, and maybe to speed up t…”
Opinion
Frank Stephenson argues electric vehicles are merely a stopgap due to batteries
“For me it is, like you said, a stop gap because I can see Or we all know there are better solutions because, you know, electrics aren't that efficient in terms of what you do later with the batteries or many, or how you actually produce the batteries.”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Stephenson: Hydrogen will probably succeed electric vehicles as next propulsion era
“The electrics will probably be with us for quite a while until the next probably hydrogen step comes in. And I see that as one day being probably the successor to the electric market or the electric age that we're going through now.”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Frank Stephenson: Full autonomy requires 100% intelligent vehicle adoption
“Until we can get a hundred percent of the cars working on the same level, I don't think we're going to see it.”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Frank Stephenson predicts full autonomy will arrive in aviation before ground transit
“I don't see a full system of autonomous driving cars working in the near future. It'll happen in the sky, I think, before it will happen on, on the ground.”
Insight
Stephenson: Great design makes consumers desire products they do not need
“You have to reach for the emotional factor that makes people want the car without really needing the car. And that emotional factor in design is, is vital. It's extremely important that you create a product that somebody necessarily doesn't need it, but wants …”
Insight
Stephenson: Design is the deciding factor in everyday car purchasing decisions
“If you're in the market for a budget car or everyday car, you're so many cars cover that well enough today that design tends to be the deciding factor when it comes to making that decision of what car I want.”
Insight
Stephenson: Gut instinct is only reliable after gaining substantial career experience
“People rely a lot of times on gut instinct, but they rely on it too soon in their careers And that is probably a mistake. I think when you feel that something is right that is a reliable guide when you've got pretty much the experience that what your gut insti…”
Insight
Stephenson: Automotive design language must evolve progressively to avoid diluting brand recognition
“You don't want to make big jumps in the design language because otherwise it becomes you know either diluted too quickly or indistinguishable or looks too much like somebody else's design language.”
Insight
Stephenson: Designers should sketch subconsciously and reserve critical judgment for afterward
“It's not sitting there trying to think where each line goes. It's basically letting your subconscious thoughts of the end product come out as they want to come out. You know, it's, you're watching it, you're being critical of it, obviously, but you're not ther…”
Insight
Stephenson: Aerodynamics do not significantly impact efficiency at standard road speeds
“We are limited to speeds on most roads where the aerodynamics don't play a huge part of the efficiency.”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Frank Stephenson predicts future vehicle efficiency demands will drive thinner tire development
“And so we're going to be looking probably at new ways of making tires in such a way that they become thinner And still have maximum adhesion in all circumstances.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Stephenson: Car companies keep design teams small, limiting global designer numbers
“The thing is, car design is not a big profession. It's, there are not a lot of car designers in the world because simply car companies don't need a lot of designers. They, you know, even the big ones, they try to keep their teams pretty small, so there aren't,…”
Disclosure
Frank Stephenson connects almost every vehicle he has ever designed to nature
“Pretty much everything I've ever designed has a connection personal connection to nature. For me. One of my favorite subjects always has been biology and nature, and I've always tried to find my inspiration through nature, pretty much.”
Assertion Not publicly verifiable
Frank Stephenson reveals McLaren modeled the P1 hypercar air ducts on sailfish
“We used that to put into the air intake ducts on the P-one to make, to actually accelerate the air going into the car. So if you feed more air into an engine, basically you're going to get more power out of it. So we found a distinct advantage by using these s…”
Assertion Supported
Stephenson: Military aircraft are intentionally designed to be aerodynamically unstable
“The most innovation comes obviously from the military from military aviation, where planes are basically designed to be or these military, Aircraft are designed to be unstable so they can maneuver much more quickly.”
Insight
Stephenson: Nature serves as a library of pre-tested design solutions
“All we have to do is peel back the layers and find out how they've managed to make something successful because obviously in, in, in nature, something's not well designed. It won't stick around for very long. So there are solutions in nature, which are surpris…”
Frank Stephenson