The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) which is held in Las Vegas has been the launchpad for innovation and technology. CES is among the largest gatherings showcasing the latest business and consumer technologies. In the last few years, various automotive manufacturers have used CES to showcase their updates to various technological aspects of their vehicles, together with their future vision of the automotive industry and the direction its headed. This year marked 50 years of CES. Here are our picks of the show:
Faraday Future FF91
Faraday Future is a Los Angeles-based electric car start-up, and at CES 2017 showcased their production FF91 electric car which will rival the Tesla Model X. The company claims the FF91 is the fastest accelerating electric car reaching 100 km/h in just 2.39 seconds. It produces the equivalent of 1,050 PS, packing a 130-kWh capacity battery, and a claimed range of 609 km. The FF91 is loaded with various new technologies including a facial recognition system instead of a key, and driver-less parking. Production of the FF91 won’t start until 2018.
Chrysler Portal Concept
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), who hosted their first-ever conference at CES 2017, unveiled an electric mini-van concept called the ‘Portal’ which claims to be ‘by millennials, for millennials’. The Portal has a passenger-to-passenger intercom system, a selfie camera for group selfies, and vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) technology, which enables the car to communicate with other vehicles. The Portal boasts a 100-kWh battery that provides 403 km of range.
Honda NeuV Concept
Honda unveiled at CES the NeuV concept, which stands for New Electric Utility Vehicle. It is a small urban autonomous car aimed at being used for ride-sharing when the owner isn’t using the car. The NeuV concept features an ’emotion engine’ which will learn the drivers’ emotions, judgement and based on the past decisions makes new choices.
Toyota Concept-i
Toyota took to CES 2017 to showcase their Concept-i, which focuses on assisting the driver to improve safety. The Concept-i features an AI system called ‘Yui’ which is capable of reading human emotions so as to learn about the driver and assist when necessary. Toyota plan to produce a vehicle that includes some of the features equipped on the concept car and begin test runs on public roads in Japan within a few years.
BMW At CES 2017
BMW i Inside Future Concept
BMW previewed their vision of the future interior technology at CES 2017 with the HoloActive Cockpit Concept. The new cockpit design builds on the tech showcased at the last two editions of CES, such as gesture control with the infotainment screen, and the head-up display found in the windscreen to create holographic interfaces. With this system the driver doesn’t need to touch the vehicle to use the controls.
BMW 5 Series Autonomous Prototype
BMW used CES 2017 to showcase a self-driving version of the 5 Series. The 5 Series prototype had taken the roads of Las Vegas to give onlookers a demonstration of the driving and parking capabilities of the 5 Series prototype. This feature will make its debut in the new 5 Series sedan.
