GENEVA SHOW HEADS ONLINE AMID HEALTH FEARS
last year was 600,000 over 10 days. Live streams were broadcast from Germany, the UK, Czech Republic and Italy as those brands with something important to say got the message out.
If the strategy employed for not-Geneva 2020 proves cost effective, even more manufacturers may stay away from motor shows — which, it now seems, are vulnerable to the easy reach of virtual tech and the spread of a vicious virus.
BMW
The four-door coupe Concept i4 previews a new EV in 2021. The Concept is “quite close to the production car,” says BMW chief Oliver Zipse.
Most stunning of the production i4’s attributes is a driving range of “up to 600km” between recharges. Its slim 80kWh underfloor battery pack enabled BMW’s designers to make the i4 low and sleek.
The electric motor punches out up to 390kW, power to equal BMW’s current twin-turbo petrol V8s. Accelerating from standstill to 100km/h will take only 4.0 seconds. The i4 uses the company’s latest motor, battery, power electronics and charging tech, which will appear next year in the iNext, BMW’s flagship EV.
The i4 doesn’t need a big radiator for engine cooling so no air flows through its grille. Those oversize “kidneys” house the array of forwardfacing sensors. Inside, a curved widescreen display dominates the instrument panel.
RENAULT
The car of the future could be a shapeshifting machine capable of adapting to different driving environments.
The Morphoz electric concept car can stretch its wheelbase and increase its boot size at the touch of a button, effectively transforming from a RAV4 in the city to a Range Rover for country road trips. The longer layout also makes room for the temporary addition of a second battery pack increasing range from 400km to 700km.
MERCEDES-BENZ
The major update of the large E-Class sedan and wagon line-up is due in Australia late this year.
The biggest news is the Mercedes-AMG E53, powered by a 3.0-litre in-line six-cylinder with electric turbo and gaining a big visual update.
The update will also bring a new turbo 2.0litre four-cylinder mild hybrid for mainstream models and a six-cylinder mild hybrid further up the range. Mercedes-Benz says it will quadruple its global production of hybrids, both mild and plug-in, this year.
The broadcast included footage of camouflaged prototypes of the EQA EV in Sweden and a look at the new GLA compact crossover, which is taller and roomier than the model it replaces.
HYUNDAI
Korea’s biggest car maker plans to rapidly ramp up EV production over the next five years and the Prophecy Concept signals its big-time ambitions. By 2025 it aims to produce 670,000 battery and fuel-cell EVs.
Product division boss Thomas Schemera says: “This will position us among the top three EV providers globally.”