While you’re stuck in back-to-work, back-to schooltraffic, you may as well contemplate that driverless future which has been coming for nigh on a decade now, but honestly, it should be arriving any day now…
Going by all the automotive hardware on display at the 2023 edition of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, there is still something to get excited about for the remaining days of private car ownership, as legacy car manufacturers grapple with looming fossil-fuel bans around the world as well as the touchy concept of brand image in an era of increasingly homogenised technologies.
BMW
According to one of the biggest paint suppliers to the global car industry, PPG, nearly 80% of new vehicles in 2022 were sold in either white, black, or a shade of grey.
BMW would like to change that. At CES 2023 it premiered the BMW I Vision Dee, featuring E Ink technology that allows for up to 32 colours to be displayed at the same time across the vehicle’s fully configurable exterior body panels. BMW engineers developed the tech in-house together with ePaper company E Ink to make the colour change process possible on curved surfaces.
Fiat
Fiat returned to Las Vegas this year with another electric supermini in the main role on the Italian giant’s show stand, the New 500. It also presented its Fiat Metaverse Store to the American public – the new virtual showroom allows customers to digitally experience the brand while configuring or even purchasing their own vehicle, without the requirement of any VR headsets or other fancy hardware.
Sony Honda Mobility
Last March Sony Group Corporation pulled out a bit of a surprise with its announcement of an alliance with Honda to create a line of electric vehicles.
Last week in Las Vegas we saw the first result of this joint venture in the form of a clean and smooth looking new concept electric car – the SHM (Sony Honda Mobility) Afeela, as it’s called, boasts a total of 45 cameras and sensors in order to allow for Level 3 autonomy.
Orders for the first batch of Afeela EVs are scheduled for 2025, with deliveries beginning in 2026.
Mercedes-Benz
Tesla’s headstart in the electric vehicle market has challenged the preparedness of legacy car brands when it comes to infrastructure and some are adapting faster than others.
At CES 2023, Mercedes-Benz announced plans to develop a global network of high-power chargers with the rollout starting this year in North America.
The ultimate goal for the German manufacturer is to establish more than 10 000 high-power chargers across the world, as cities like London and Paris prepare to ban new fossil-fuel cars by 2030.
Peugeot
The French brought over the striking new Peugeot Inception concept car to CES. But don’t go pestering your local dealer because this isn’t ever going to make it to production –the Inception only previews future Peugeot electric vehicles so you can have some idea of what Peugeots from 2025 onwards will look like.
With the latest-generation electric powertrain underneath the breezy bodywork, the Inception is a fully functioning prototype, capable of a range of 800km on a full charge, with more than 500kW providing dizzying performance and zero to 100km/h claimed in under three seconds.
Ram
Of all the vehicle segments to get a shake-up during the electric revolution, the bakkie segment is arguably the most hotly contested with pick-up truck buyers in the US spoilt for choice – Ford and General Motors no longer have the playing field to themselves as rivals from Rivian, Lordstown Motors and indeed Tesla arrive.
Now Ram (part of the Stellantis group comprising of no less than 16 brands, including Fiat, Jeep, Maserati, Opel, Peugeot…) is ready to play. It introduced the new Ram 1500 Revolution, featuring all-wheel steering, air suspension and two electric drive modules.
The zero-emissions bakkie will enter production next year, going up against the Ford F-150 Lightning, the Chevrolet Silverado EV, and the GMC Sierra EV.
Volkswagen
Volkswagen is one of few carmakers to have entered the electric vehicle market from the bottom up, with affordable models rolling out first and bigger and more upmarket vehicles following suit.
VW’s ID family of electric vehicles started with the ID.3 moving on up to ID.6, with the best saved for Vegas – at CES 2023 the Germans revealed the new ID.7, a flagship four-door and Volkswagen’s first ever all-electric saloon car.
VW promises a range of up to 700km, a 38cm screen as well as an augmented reality head-up display, and perhaps most notably a new infotainment interface in order to respond to customer complaints regarding the current ID system.
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