Shape-Changing: When Will it Take Shape?

In chatting with Michael Simcoe, Executive Director of North American Exterior Design at General Motors, I posed the question about shape-changing materials: those materials that can can change shape by having a electrical current passed through them.

There are a number of potential applications and GM is exploring them. The most obvious which is being able to modify body form and have active aerodynamics on the vehicle. This can be as simple as being able to open a vent on the rear or front of the vehicle to aid air flow or alternatively, and more extreme, the modification of body shape.

Speaking for myself, from what I have seen and heard it would appear that we won't see any production vehicles with any type of volume sporting this technology until well into the next decade. When this technology appears, I would speculate that it will appear in either a higher end vehicle that would be capable of absorbing the cost into its sticker or a showpiece like GM's E-Flex platform.