With cars turning into electronic devices on wheels, it’s not surprising that the CES, the most important electronics show globally, has turned into the favorite stage of many car brands. Despite growing fears that the event could turn into a super spreader, the organizers pushed for CES 2022 to happen in person anyway. Except for Hyundai and a few others, most automotive brands preferred to limit their physical presence, turning to hybrid digital-physical presentation. Nonetheless, they kept their best news for the show. They even sent smaller teams to make sure in-person visitors could still check out the booths with their latest models and concepts. Here’s our selection of the highlights of this year’s CES.
The best new car and mobility designs seen at CES 2022
At the first in-person Consumer Electronics Show in two years, automotive manufacturers shared the stage with many other gadget manufacturers as usual. Here are the main takeaways.
The vehicle itself is a pod-like van with a lounge area and - for some reason - a massive video wall where LG's virtual influencer, Reah, would feature as a "concierge." LG calls it a "Meta Environment Screen," possibly trying a bit too hard to embed the keyword "metaverse" into its marketing materials.
The vehicle has a futuristic design that marks a stark departure from Mercedes' usual elegant lines, favoring a more aerodynamic, sporty, and sleek body. The EQXX is just a concept, but Mercedes-Benz says the range estimate is realistic, as it's primarily based on optimizations to the weight and drag of the vehicle.
The goal is not to give you a large enough surface to read The Brothers Karamazov in one sit, though. The concept iFlow X, as the car is called, leverages the e-ink technology to change the car's color from white to dark grey. We're not entirely sure what's the purpose of the BMW concept was, outside of capturing the attention of the few CES visitors and generating headlines for the brand.
The Airflow has a design "grounded in the present," as the intention is to make the car "more aspirational than futuristic."
From its looks, the concept is almost production-ready, although most probably Chrysler won't come out with its first EV on the market until at least 2025.
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- Andrea Nepori
- 10 January 2022
Opening image: Mercedes EQXX
The Korean brand introduced a concept for the future of mobility based on extending the user's domestic space to the car.
The vehicle itself is a pod-like van with a lounge area and - for some reason - a massive video wall where LG's virtual influencer, Reah, would feature as a "concierge." LG calls it a "Meta Environment Screen," possibly trying a bit too hard to embed the keyword "metaverse" into its marketing materials.
Metaverse is also the keyword for the Korean automaker. The company goes even further, cramming together meta and mobility in its "metamobility concept," a vision of a future where humans and robots share the same metaverse and the same reality, with a seamless connection through many different domains. The goal is to "Expand Human Reach', in order to achieve unlimited freedom of mobility. Despite the pompous wording, Hyundai is a player to watch in the "metaverse meets robotics" arena, at least in light of their June 2021 acquisition of Boston Dynamics.
Despite a limited physical presence in Las Vegas, Mercedes-Benz virtually unveiled the EQXX, an electric car with a range of 1000km on a single charge.
The vehicle has a futuristic design that marks a stark departure from Mercedes' usual elegant lines, favoring a more aerodynamic, sporty, and sleek body. The EQXX is just a concept, but Mercedes-Benz says the range estimate is realistic, as it's primarily based on optimizations to the weight and drag of the vehicle.
E-Ink screens are great for ebook readers, but BMW found a different use case by plastering an entire car body with them.
The goal is not to give you a large enough surface to read The Brothers Karamazov in one sit, though. The concept iFlow X, as the car is called, leverages the e-ink technology to change the car's color from white to dark grey. We're not entirely sure what's the purpose of the BMW concept was, outside of capturing the attention of the few CES visitors and generating headlines for the brand.
At CES, Stellantis group unveiled its first step in transforming Chrysler into a full-electric brand by 2028 with the unveiling of the Airflow concept.
The Airflow has a design "grounded in the present," as the intention is to make the car "more aspirational than futuristic."
From its looks, the concept is almost production-ready, although most probably Chrysler won't come out with its first EV on the market until at least 2025.
The automotive headlines at CES were not all for the big brands. Fisker, a new player on the EV arena, showed its new Ocean, an EV first unveiled last fall at the LA Autoshow. More than the car itself, the highlight was its Digital Radar technology combining ADAS cameras with 4D radars. Fisker is betting on being first-to-market with the new safety-enhancing technology when the Ocean hits the market next November.