When you put BMW Manufacturing and Clemson University’s International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR), the nation’s only automotive engineering graduate department, on the same project, crossovers are configured into awesome transforming pickups. Introducing Deep Orange 4, a BMW X3 turned X4 look-alike with the functionality of a pickup.
The Build
Deep Orange 4 is a functioning prototype, and is similar to GMC’s discontinued Envoy XUV.
The cargo area is enclosed by a retractable glass roof section and barn door style tailgate to enable easy access to cargo. If there were a need for more room, the glass roof section slides under the X3’s stock panoramic roof, and a second rear glass panel deploys behind the rear seats where it separates the cabin from the waterproofed open-air cargo bay.
The second sliding window can also fold flat with the rear seats, allowing the rear seats to flip and fold forward for more space. The custom roof was completely fabricated from the B-pillars back utilizing 3-D plastic. For the final touch, Deep Orange 4 received a matte orange wrap to represent Clemson’s primary school color.
To be thorough, the graduate students conducted studies, market research, and an in-plant analysis of BMW’s manufacturing capabilities to plan around a low volume vehicle (up to 5,000 vehicle) that could actually be produced profitably, without going $8,000 over the X3’s current sticker price. The project began in 2011.
It is safe to say that they impressed BMW. “The students working on this phase of the project did an excellent job of keeping costs down while finding optimal integration opportunities,” explained Rich Morris, BMW Manufacturing’s vice president of assembly, in the university’s press release.
CU-ICAR’s goal is to provide an insight into all various aspects of vehicle development, from product planning and market research to design and prototyping.
BMW has not officially stated whether they will follow through with a Deep Orange 4 inspired X3, but who knows. BMW seems to really enjoy exploring any automotive niche they can, so it would be best to not rule anything out just yet.
If You Didn’t Know
You could probably assume from the number in the name that this isn’t Clemson’s first rodeo. Deep Orange 4 is their fourth concept installment to the Deep Orange program, which followed Deep Orange 3—a running, all-wheel-drive plug-in hybrid Mazda hatchback. Deep Orange 3 was also an impressive concept that featured a 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine from a Mazda2, fitted with a turbocharger and Clemson’s own engine mapping to power the front axle while an 80-kilowatt electric motor powered the rear. It also had a manual transmission and seated six people!
Deep Orange 3
Clemson has also worked with BMW in the past to build a plug-in-hybrid 1-series.
Their next project, Deep Orange 5, is intended to be an affordable, personal, emotional, multifunctional urban mobility vehicle for the young adults of generation Y/Z who live in megacities. Their objective is to create a hand-in-hand connection between social networking and mobility to enable an emotional relationship with their vehicle.
