EV Shows Veteran Designer Giugiaro Still Energetic

TURIN – Renowned car designer Giorgetto Giugiaro is giving himself an early birthday gift at the Geneva auto show: the Sybilla, a concept electric vehicle he created at the recently established GFG Style studio headed by his son Fabrizio.

The 4-door sedan is integrated into electric-vehicle architecture designed by Envision, a Chinese company that claims to own the world’s largest Internet of Things platform. Envision is billed as the Giugiaro project’s sponsor and technical partner.

The Giugiaros established Turin-based GFG Style after leaving the Italdesign studio founded by Giorgetto Giugiaro and were not commissioned by any automaker to design the Sybilla, although with Envision’s involvement the EV is engineered to be incorporated into the electrical grid.

The one-off vehicle features a fluid, sculpted shape that emphasizes aerodynamics, elegance and comfort. It is described as 2.3 ins. (60 mm) taller than a Porsche Panamera, a bit shorter than an Audi A8 and offering the interior roominess of a long-wheelbase Mercedes S-Class.

The GFG Style Sybilla underscores its roominess with a wraparound canopy that slides forward electrically to provide convenient access to the front seat. Access to the fully reclining rear seats is through a pair of gull-wing doors.

Envision is lending its electric-vehicle platform and technology to the project “for the integration of innovative EV charging solutions into the existing electricity system.”

“This is one of the biggest challenges for the automotive industry today,” Envision founder and CEO Zhang Lei says. “Sustainable mobility can only become a reality once sufficient clean energy is integrated into the energy system to charge millions of EVs, and for that to happen the world’s transport and energy systems need to merge into one ecosystem. We joined forces with GFG Style to address this challenge.”