The Teenage Inventor of a Blind Spot Solution

14-year-old Alaina Gassler’s “Improving Automobile Safety by Removing Blind Spots” project, which took first prize for STEM excellence at the Broadcam MASTERS competition, eliminates blocks in vision created by obstructive interiors. In essence, Gassler has eliminated a driver’s blind spot. Using a webcam, projector, and 3D-printed materials, Gassler configured a camera to capture the area blocked by the a-pillar and the projector to display the feed …

Mazda’s First Electric Vehicle, The MX-30

We speak with chief designer Yoichi Matsuda about the brand's first EV

One of the first cars Yoichi Matsuda (chief designer at Mazda) owned was a 1991 MX-5 Miata. He joined the brand just a year before, in 1990, and shortly after, the Miata hit the Japanese market—then the world. And Matsuda has been with Mazda ever since—an incredibly long career as a designer in the car world. We met with him at the Tokyo Motor Show, …

Nissan’s Future-Focused Ariya and IMk Concept Cars

A pair of electric vehicles previewed at the Tokyo Motor Show signal a new direction for the company

In the past, Giovanny Arroba assisted in designing cars as totemic for Nissan as the Altima. Today, he’s a program design director at Nissan, and admits he’s experiencing a pretty special rebirth. Speaking with us at the Tokyo Motor Show about Nissan’s new electric Ariya and (sadly, Japan-market-only) IMk Concepts, he says this sector, for carmakers, feels tremendously freeing. For instance, he says the Ariya …