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or the first several millennia of human existence, our conception of time was rather abstract, based on the cycles of the sun and seasons but little else. Modern man, however, shares a much more intimate relationship with time, the commodity that has emerged as the most precious in our lives. In order to measure it, we invented the timepiece. In order to meet it, the automobile. Both inventions, central to human progress, have their roots in Swiss innovation. But while the craftsmen of the wrist watch harnessed the energy of human mobility with the automatic movement, the internal combustion engine – first developed by Swiss inventor François Isaac de Rivaz and still the building block on which modern automobiles are based – relies on the burning of fossil fuels to get the modern man where he needs to be on time. That reliance served us well over the course of the SWISS MADE magazine DELUXE
past century. But today a new imperative – driven by economic and environmental concerns – has forced us to begin developing a new type of automotive propulsion to supplement and eventually supplant the internal combustion engine in order to reduce our dependence on polluting and diminishing supplies of oil. Like the first automobiles, the initial prototypes for electric vehicles – even those that made it to market – remained on the fringe. Sacrifices in such sought-after qualities as luxury, performance and prestige were made towards the vehicle’s main purpose. But like the original automobiles, electric vehicles will continue to merge into the mainstream until they become commonplace. The trend has already begun to bear fruit, and a new generation of exciting, yet environmentally-conscious vehicles has arisen to simultaneously hug the road, pamper the driver and embrace the planet. And while the established industry giants may be in the best position to present these new vehicles to the motoring public, a new crop of independent automakers has begun to sprout, bearing the fruit of progress, among them several that are bringing the automobile back to its roots in Switzerland for replanting.