CASE PROJECT TETRA
iVT
CONCEPT
half a lifetime spent in
automotive design.
For Wilkie, industrial vehicle
design has been historically
underdeveloped, but now offers
exciting potential for a big push
forward, like as that witnessed in
the automotive sector in the 1960s
and 70s.
“Maybe in the past, people have
seen design as dangerous and
frivolous, because it costs a lot of
money. But nevertheless, design can
give you something more,” he says.
The key to progress, in Wilkie’s
opinion, is closer collaboration
between engineers and designers,
with design no longer being viewed
as cosmetic window-dressing, to be
added once technical design is
complete.
“In the automotive industry, it’s
already like that,” he says.
“Engineers and designers
are working side-by-side
all the time, because all
cars work really well, so
that people often buy
based on brand and
design. In this world,
engineering is king, so
everything has to run
and be solid.”
22 iVTInternational.com June 2019
230hp
The maximum power
output from the FTP
Industrial NEF sixcylinder
NG engine
99%
The reduction in
particulate matter in
the FPT NEF engine
compared to its diesel
counterpart
On the Web
Watch the Case video for Project Tetra at
www.iVTinternational.com/tetra
But as the
market becomes
more competitive,
Wilkie anticipates
vehicle styling
assuming a greater
importance and
points to the
success of Apple
design chief
Jonathan Ive in
defining a functional
product that has changed
the world.
Design power
The Tetra is breaking
new ground as the
first construction
vehicle to use a
natural gas
engine – a sixcylinder
NG
power unit
from the
existing NEF
range from FPT.
But Wilkie is still
restless for further
change and views engines as
an area ripe for designers to
articulate machine evolution.
“If you look under the hood of
my Jaguar E-Type, it’s like a Spitfire
aeroplane,” he says. “Years ago,
engines used to be simple and
beautiful to look at; you could touch
them and work with them. Then
engines got buried underneath
things like electronic ignition
systems. You couldn’t fix them
any more – and now they have
become very specialized and
you fix them with a computer.
Today, there’s a need to come
back and make them look
simpler and cleaner,” he
continues. “If we want
engines that look to the
future, they should look clean.
ABOVE: The six-cylinder
natural gas engine, from FPT
Industrial’s NEF range, that
powers Project Tetra
BELOW: FPT Industrial’s
Cursor X concept engine
Why would you create a sustainable
engine that looks like a dinosaur?
That’s our side of it: to make engines
that visually reflect what they do.”
This design sensibility can be
seen in FPT Industrial’s recent
Cursor X concept engine, which is
adaptable to run on a variety of
alternative fuels including natural
gas, hydrogen fuel cell electric
generation, or battery-stored energy.
Predicting the future
For now, Project Tetra provides a
glimpse of what the future of wheel
loader design might hold.
“We’ve got to link technology
and design,” says Wilkie. “In
concept and future-development
work like the wheel loader, some
of our team are in the workshops
with the engineers, which really
opens their eyes. But it’s
got to be done in
a careful way.”
After all, it is
the engineering
teams who
know the
machines
inside-out
and really
understand their
workings, and
Wilkie readily
acknowledges that
designers could do far
more to further their
technical knowledge.
“But now what’s happening with
our design center is that we’re
involved in new projects from the
beginning, rather than coming in at
the end, when everything’s finished
and there isn’t very much you can
style. Coming in at the beginning,
you can actually shake things up
a bit: that’s the big change. I think
that’s partly the aim of this project,”
he concludes. “To show ourselves
and the world what all the machines
around us could be like, if they had
this type of development.” iVT
“WHY WOULD
YOU CREATE
A SUSTAINABLE
ENGINE THAT
LOOKS LIKE
A DINOSAUR?”
David Wilkie, design director,
CNH Industrial
/iVTInternational.com
/tetra