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The best new car and mobility designs seen at CES 2022
LG Omnipod
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.
Hyundai's future of mobility concepts
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.
Mercedes EQXX
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.
BMW's chameleon car
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.
Chrysler - Concept Airflow
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.
Fisker Ocean
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.