Future of driving way closer than you think
Vehicles at CES 2016 sketch out road map to a driverless reality
The messages blaring from countless auto-tech videos and booths at the 2016 Consumer Electronics show all shared the same Jetsons- esque theme.
Maybe by 2020, and certainly by 2030, we will live in a world populated by vehicles that will chauffeur us where we need to go. We’ll hop out and they’ll park themselves or give someone else a lift. We may own these cars, but more than likely we’ll be renting and sharing them. The technology exists and is improving monthly; it’s down to society and regulators to keep up.
And after the umpteenth demo of life-saving technology that helps cars see and react to trouble seconds before a human can register the problem, I was overwhelmed by the realization that one day soon we may look at a person driving a car and label them either a Luddite or a deathdefying risk taker.
But that future is still being road tested. On a more concrete note, a range of companies used CES to trumpet their 2016 connected car initiatives.
Ford announced a tripling, to 30, of autonomous vehicles deployed on test runs in various states, as well as a nascent project with Amazon that would allow Ford vehicle owners to leverage the cloud to access their Internet of Things home products.
Meanwhile, crosstown Detroit rival Chevy offered test rides in its forthcoming 200-mile range, battery powered Bolt, which engineers said was deliberately designed as a ride-sharing vehicle, intriguing considering GM’s recent announcement that it was investing $500 million in ridesharing company Lyft.
Toyota executives revealed a $1 billion commitment to pursuing artificial intelligence options for robotic transportation through its academically stacked Toyota Research Institute project, and Kia, once simply a manufacturer of low-cost vehicles, announced it, too, would be launching its own autonomous car program.
And in certainly one of the more curious auto events here this week, mysterious Chinesebacked Faraday Future unveiled a rakish, tech-stuffed supercar that didn’t seem to directly address the growing call to make fewer and more practical cars, thereby stoking chatter about whether the company remains a front for Apple.
But the spotlight here wasn’t just trained on big automakers. Increasingly, manufacturers are turning to tech-steeped suppliers in order to provide their vehicles with best-in-class connected car tech.
Building cars is one thing; creating complex, upgradeable and security in-car systems isn’t a traditional automaker strong suit. That meant the booths belonging to companies such as Nvidia and Harman were packed with media and auto executives alike.
Harman, which provides the in-dash connected infotainment systems for nearly a dozen manufacturers, demoed a range of technologies that included realtime data protection to thwart hackers attempting to access a vehicle and an intriguing driver-fac- ing camera that monitors pupil size for stress and can make adjustments to driving dynamics as necessary.
If there’s a bone to pick with this year’s CES over 2015, it is for a lack of wow. Last year, Mercedes-Benz stopped the show with its futuristic though fully operable Luxury in Motion autonomous car prototype. And BMW showed off the near future through a small fleet of vehicles that valet parked themselves at a casino parking garage.
Those sorts of memorable moments were absent this year in favor of more meat-and-potato updates.
Then again, it’s the meat and potatoes that make the meal. And if the 2016 CES says anything about where connected cars are headed, it is straight into our daily rituals.
If there’s a bone to pick with this year’s CES over 2015, it is for a lack of wow. Instead, we got more meat-and-potato updates.