Car makers can design marvels of engineering, like vehicles that self-park and brakes that sense a crash. But creating the perfect spot for a handbag or a cellphone? That is challenging.
车制造商可以设计出工程学奇迹。他们可以让车辆自动泊车，还可以让轿车在感应到冲击时自行刹车。但是专门为手提包或手机设计一个理想的安放点？这才是真正的挑战。
'We realize there does need to be a solution out there and there isn't really a good one, ' says Chris Shinouskis, an engineer at General Motors Co., of the bag problem.
通用汽车公司(General Motors Co.)的工程师克丽丝•辛努斯基斯(Chris Shinouskis)谈起放包空间的问题时说：“我们意识到这个问题需要解决，可是却没有什么好的方法。”
Ms. Shinouskis, whose title is Engineering Specialist for Storage, is one of a handful of engineers and designers in the auto industry whose job is to keep tabs on the ever-growing array of items people bring into their cars, and then carve out cubbies and compartments to hold them.
辛努斯基斯是一位储存工程专家(Engineering Specialist for Storage)，在汽车行业里，有为数不多的工程师或设计师和她一样，要留意人们带进轿车的越来越多的物品，然后要在车内为这些物品设计出存放空间。
Adding storage can at times be a hard-fought battle, especially as cars today come crammed with high-tech safety, information and entertainment systems, all of which require space-hogging wiring and hardware.
在车内添加储存空间本已困难重重，而且如今的轿车又配置了各种高科技的安全、信息以及娱乐系统──这些设施的电线和硬件都需要空间。
But buyers are demanding it, especially as they spend more time on the road and bring more items in the car with them to stay plugged into their lives岸things like pricey tablets that they don't want sliding off the front seat.
但是用户又有对储物空间的需求，特别是在人们开车行驶的时间越来越长，在车里存放的物件也越来越多的时候。这些物件已成为人们生活不可或缺的一部分，比如说价格不菲的平板电脑──车主可不想它从前座上滑下去。
And it's not just a matter of convenience. Unsecured items can easily roll under the driver's feet or become projectiles during a sudden stop or crash.
这不仅仅是便利的问题。没有固定的物品很容易在急刹车或交通事故中滚落到司机脚下或甩出去。
Whether she plops her purse on the front passenger seat or jams it between her seat and the door, Tina Parker, a teacher in Detroit, says she worries that, in an abrupt stop, 'everything will go flying.' Ms. Parker, 45, who says she travels frequently in her 2003 Nissan Altima, hasn't figured out an ideal cellphone spot either. She usually stows it in one of the two center-console cup holders, she says, but when she has a coffee in the other, a quick braking means that 'my phone gets a little splash.'
45岁的蒂娜•帕克(Tina Parker)是底特律的一名教师，她说，不管是把包扔在副驾驶座上，还是放在驾驶座与门之间的空隙里，她都不放心。她说：“一旦急刹，车里的东西全都会被甩出来。”帕克说她经常开着她的2003款尼桑天籁(Nissan Altima)四处旅行，却一直没能给手机找到一个理想的安放点。她说她一般就把手机放在中控台上的一个杯架中，但是如果另一个杯架放着咖啡，一旦急刹的话，手机就会溅上咖啡。
About 65% of new-car buyers said interior storage is 'very' or 'extremely important' when making a purchase decision, according to a recent survey by Strategic Vision, a San Diego-based research firm.
根据圣地亚哥(San Diego)研究公司Strategic Vision的数据，65%的新车买家认为，在做购买决定时，内部储存空间的设计“非常”或“极度”重要。
Customers are particularly charmed by storage spaces that are thoughtfully placed and somewhat unexpected, such as a cubby or pop-out tray embedded in the dashboard that melds visually with the interior design, says Alexander Edwards, president of Strategic Vision.
Strategic Vision的董事长亚历山大•爱德华兹(Alexander Edwards)说，如果储存空间设计得体贴周到甚或有些出人意料，消费者就会尤其感兴趣，比如说在视觉上与整个内饰融为一体的嵌入仪表盘的小储物仓或弹出式托盘。
'It's a little feature. It doesn't cost a lot of money. And yet it has the ability to be that unique, innovative item that seals the deal between two different vehicles, ' he says.
他说：“这只是个小设计，花不了多少钱。但是当买家在两部车子之间做选择时，就是这个别出心裁、很有创意的小设计让这部车最终胜出。”
Complicating the storage challenge is the fact that it can take up to four years to develop or completely redesign a model, while the technology world moves much faster. By contrast, Apple Inc. offered four generations of its iPad tablet, plus a Mini version, in less than three years. Plus, items like cellphones are anything but standard in their dimensions.
开发或重新设计一款车子有时会花上多达四年的时间，可是科技进步的速度却快得多，这让“空间挑战”变得更加棘手。相比之下，苹果公司(Apple Inc.)能够在短短三年内推出了四代iPad以及一款iPad Mini。另外，手机之类的物件其规格也各不相同。
Back in 2007, when Ford Motor Co. was developing its current-generation Explorer岸and the first iPhone had just launched岸Matt Rutman, a Ford engineer and storage specialist, was adamant that the new SUV needed a place, right above the shifter, for mobile-phone storage and charging.
2007年，当福特汽车公司(Ford Motor Co.)正着力开发目前这一代探路者(Explorer)的时候──彼时苹果刚刚推出了第一款iPhone──福特的工程师兼储存专家马特•拉特曼(Matt Rutman)就坚持要在这款新SUV的换挡杆前方加一个空间，用来存放手机和充电。
The phone bin needed to be next to the multimedia console, a place designers often call 'Manhattan real estate' because it's the best spot for placing features within the driver's reach. He made his case to stylists and other engineers for a total rework of the center stack, the band of space that runs from the front seats up to the top of the dashboard.
存放手机的槽位需要设计在多媒体控制台旁边，设计师常常把这个区域称作“曼哈顿地产”，因为这里是驾驶者伸手可及范围内的最佳位置。拉特曼让设计师和其他工程师重新设计中控台区域，包括从前排座位到仪表板顶端的整个区域。
'I was told numerous times, it wasn't possible, ' says Mr. Rutman, who joined Ford eight years ago after working as an office-chair designer and who regularly trolls tech websites to keep up on new mobile-product buzz. 'So I went back to my own computer and figured it out myself.'
拉特曼已在福特公司工作了八年，在此之前他是一名办公室座椅设计师，经常浏览各大科技网站，以保证自己及时跟上新型移动设备的潮流。他说：“别人跟我说了无数次，说这不可能实现。所以我就自己在电脑把它设计了出来。”
His solution involved redoing the ventilation system behind the dash, and moving up the video screen and controls. That left a space for a closeable compartment big enough to hold two cellphones.
他的解决方案包括重新设计仪表板后的通风系统，以及将屏幕和控制台总体上移。这就腾出了空间，可以设计一个能容纳两只手机的可开关储物槽。
With storage space already in short supply, drivers can find it particularly frustrating when it's wasted. The glove compartment, in particular, often becomes catchall for junk.
车中的储物空间本身就已经不够用了，所以当空间被浪费时，驾驶者就会特别懊恼。最典型的一个例子就是，手套箱常常被用来堆放各种杂物。
One company rethinking its use is Chrysler Group LLC, which has designed a glove box in its new Dodge Dart deep enough to fit a small laptop or tablet. To make it fit, Chrysler mounted the heating and cooling unit vertically, rather than horizontally, and moved the ducts behind the dash.
一些公司重新规划了手套箱的用处，克莱斯勒(Chrysler Group LLC)便是其中之一：在新款的Dodge Dart中，克莱斯勒设计了一个深度足以容纳一台小型笔记本电脑或平板电脑的手套箱。为了腾出足够的空间，克莱斯勒将加热器和散热器垂直排列，而不是水平排列，并将导管移到了仪表盘背后。
'It opens up a cavern of space that normally wouldn't be there in the glove box, ' says Ryan Nagode, a chief interior designer for Chrysler Group.
克莱斯勒的首席内饰设计师瑞安•纳戈德(Ryan Nagode)说：“这种设计可以创造出通常的手套箱所没有的一个很深的空间。”
Of course, each new storage solution requires extra materials and adds steps on the assembly line岸all of which costs more. 'It may be 10 cents here, 15 cents here, but in the end it adds up, ' Mr. Nagode says.
毋庸置疑的是，每一个新的储物设计方案都需要额外的材料，也会导致生产线上步骤的增加──这些都会增加成本。纳戈德说：“可能只是这里多花个10美分，那里多花个15美分，但是到最后就会积少成多。”
For inspiration, designers employ a host of methods to better gauge storage needs. At GM, Ms. Shinouskis' team recently dispatched several members to the mall to survey the size and shapes of sunglasses.
为了获得灵感，设计师们采用了多种方法以求更好地判定人们的储物需求。最近，通用公司辛努斯基斯所在的团队派遣了几名成员去商场调查太阳镜的尺寸和形状。
Mr. Nagode says some of Chrysler's best storage ideas come from focus groups岸but not from the sessions themselves. While participants are in the building, designers rove the parking lot, peering into their car windows to see how they really use the interior space, Mr. Nagode says.
Chrysler
In one instance, designers noticed that a Jeep Wrangler owner had poked holes in the door handle and used bungee cords to create a water-bottle holder. 'So on the new Wrangler, we threw in a nylon netting that's expandable, ' Mr. Nagode says.
克莱斯勒的内饰设计师们从一辆旧吉普普牧马人的窗外看到一位车主用橡皮绳固定水瓶，他们以此为灵感，在新款牧马人里加了一个可撑开的尼龙网。
New, thinner materials, more electronic parts and fewer bulky cables and components are helping open more space for storage. Several auto makers have already ditched the parking brake and stick-style gear shift for buttons and knobs that serve the same function, freeing up cabin space.
纳戈德说克莱斯勒公司那些最好的储物创意是来自市场调查的焦点小组，但并不是在和他们座谈的时候得出的。纳戈德说，当焦点小组的成员们还在里面开会时，设计师们就会潜入停车场里开展工作，从车窗外观察这些人究竟是如何利用车内空间的。
One problematic spot sits between the front seats and the center console, a narrow black hole prone to swallowing up loose change, pens and the wayward french fry.
其中有一次，设计师们看到一辆吉普牧马人(Jeep Wrangler)的车主在门把手上打了几个眼，然后穿上橡皮绳，做了一个水瓶袋。纳戈德说：“这就是我们的新款牧马人里有一个可撑开的尼龙网的原因。”
Auto-parts supplier, Johnson Controls Inc. thinks it has a solution. At the Detroit auto show in January, it showed off a 'catch bin, ' a U-shaped tray that fits around the armrest and into the gap where items typically fall. 'It's fixing a problem that's probably as old as the automobile, ' says Han Hendriks, who heads auto interiors and electronics development for Johnson Controls.
更轻薄的新型材料，越来越普及的电子操作系统，越来越少的笨重的电线和零部件，这些都有助于设计师设计出更多的储物空间。一些汽车制造公司已经摒弃手刹和换挡器，而用具备相同功能的按钮和旋钮来取代，如此一来，便解放了更多车内空间。
For GM's Ms. Shinouskis, the cup holder poses a continual design challenge. Though they've been around for a long time, they never seem to be in a good location, the size is off or they don't have good clearance, so cups get in the way of other things, she says.
前座和中央控制台之间的位置也是一个问题所在。这个小黑洞可以吞掉零钱、笔还有掉落的薯条。
Plus, people often want their cellphone in the same spot. So on the refreshed 2014 Chevy Malibu, GM offered both: two cup holders and two cellphone cradles, one each for the driver and the passenger.
汽车零件供应商江森自控公司(Johnson Controls Inc.)认为它有解决办法。一月份的底特律车展上，江森自控展示了一个“防落盘”。这个U形的托盘可以环绕扶手，延伸至物体经常掉落的空隙处。江森自控内饰设计和电子技术部门的负责人汉•亨德里克斯(Han Hendriks)说：“这个设计解决了一个自汽车诞生以来就存在的问题。”
When it comes to the purse dilemma, though, Ms. Shinouskis said her team has had some failed experiments. Hooks didn't really work because they left the bag unsecured. Door pockets were often too small.
对辛努斯基斯来说，杯架设计一直都是一个让她头疼的问题。她说，尽管杯架很早以前就已经有了，可是它们的位置似乎总是有点不合适：不是尺寸不对，就是跟其他部位的间距不对，放了水杯之后会影响其他的操作。
Because bags range from small clutches to cavernous totes, there is no one-size-fits-all solution, Ms. Shinouskis says. Her team is trying to find ways to keep them from spilling over during a hard brake.
而且，人们往往想把手机放在某个固定的位置。所以通用公司在2014款的雪佛兰美宜堡(Chevy Malibu)中同时满足了两种需求：两个杯架，两个手机槽，司机和副驾驶一人一套。
The other big challenge on her to-do list is a trash bin. 'We talk about it, ' she says. 'But customers' preferences are completely different. Some people want it in the door. Others want it in a covered area.'
但是，在解决放包空间这个难题时，辛努斯基斯说她的团队的设计试验已经失败了好几次。挂钩不管用，因为它们无法将包固定。而门上的槽位往往又不够大。
Her own solution, she says, probably isn't that great: 'I just leave plastic bags in my glove box and pull them out when I need them.'
辛努斯基斯说，因为从小小的手抓包到大大的托特包，包的种类有很多，所以没有哪一种设计可以面面俱到。她的团队正在寻找在急刹车时固定住包的方法。
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