2024 Consumer Electronics Show: AI Hits Dashboards, Remote Driving Could Become a Reality
Electric vehicles took center stage at this year's giant technology convention in Las Vegas.
Honda
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As cars become personal electronics devices with wheels and seats, the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas has started to integrate many big automotive newsmakers. Several tech innovations were unveiled at the 2024 CES event.
BMW
BMW to Add Upgraded Amazon Alexa Voice Assistant
BMW plans later in 2024 to add an upgraded voice assistant that takes advantage of the Amazon Alexa Large Language Model. Said to be fast, capable of processing complex questions, and personable enough for human-like interactions, the new system is an evolution of BMW's Intelligent Personal Assistant that has been around for six years.
BMW said that its Operating System 9 set to be implemented later in 2024 will include the latest Alexa assistant.
Additionally, BMW showed off an experimental system called Remote Valet that, much like the BMW in 1997's James Bond flick "Tomorrow Never Dies," can be driven from afar. The system could theoretically be part of a subscription service that allows users to have someone remotely park their car for them, though its real-world viability will require plenty of regulatory oversight.
Goodyear
Goodyear Updates Its Dedicated EV Tire
Goodyear introduced a second generation of its ElectricDrive EV tire. Known rather uncreatively as the ElectricDrive 2, Goodyear's updated tire for electric vehicles (EVs) is an all-season design that promises improved rolling resistance, longer tread life, and a more aerodynamic sidewall compared with its predecessor. Additionally, half the tire's compound is sourced from sustainable materials.
As before, the ElectricDrive 2 is designed to minimize road noise — which is often more noticeable in nearly silent EVs — and engineered to handle the added weight of an EV's battery pack. The Goodyear ElectricDrive 2 will go on sale in May 2024 and be available in 17 sizes designed to fit today's bestselling EV models.
Google's Android Auto Adds EV Route Planning
A host of updates for Android Auto include more thorough integration with Google Maps for electric cars. In some models, Android Auto will be able to access the car's current — and predicted — state of charge so it can suggest charging points along a route.
The setup will initially be found in the Ford Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning, with other models to follow.
Honda
Honda 0 EV Concepts Usher in Fresh Design
Looking more like Hollywood props than real cars, the new Honda 0 Series models that bowed at CES wear futuristic styling. The Saloon version is a sleek, minimalist passenger car, while the Space-Hub looks more like a delivery van from the year 2124.
Interestingly, even though the two cars also include a hands-free driving system, the automaker emphasized that the Saloon offers a sporty driving position and a new steer-by-wire system gleaned from the company's robotics arm that could make it more fun to drive than a typical EV.
The new models have a special stylized and illuminated version of Honda's iconic logo, too.
Hyundai
Hyundai Mobis Shows Off Ioniq 5 That Can Drive Sideways
The compact design of an electric powertrain can do more than just create more storage space, as Hyundai's Mobis division revealed in Las Vegas. The Ioniq 5-based Mobion concept features the e-Corner System. It can crank the wheels 90 degrees on each axle, allowing for diagonal and lateral movement.
E-Corner could make a lot of sense for autonomous taxis or vehicles purpose-built for use in tight areas, but don't expect the tech to arrive on a production model any time soon.
Lamborghini
Lamborghini Telemetry X Provides Real-Time Track Coaching
Italian sports-car builder Lamborghini has combined a performance data recorder with biometric data to help drivers of the brand's high-power cars get the most out of their time on a track. The company's new Telemetry X also pairs drivers with a remotely located coach — a real person, not artificial intelligence — who can provide real-time feedback via a 5G connection.
Telemetry X could eventually be available on the brand's top models.
Sony-Honda Mobility Afeela
Sony-Honda Afeela Gets a Refresh
About a year after the electric-car mash-up between Sony and Honda first debuted, an updated version arrived at CES. The Afeela that was shown in Las Vegas looks more like a production-intent model with its functional head and taillights, though its interior retains the Tesla-like steering yoke.
The car has plenty of Sony PlayStation tech inside, including a massive touchscreen. It's also intended to offer a high level of self-driving ability via Sony sensors. The president of Sony Honda Mobility even drove the show car on stage remotely using a PlayStation 5 DualSense controller.
VinFast
VinFast Shows Off EV Pickup, Squat SUV
Vietnamese automaker VinFast showed off two new electric models: a small SUV that's bound for production and a concept pickup.
The VF3 small SUV wears funky styling, looking like a cross between a Toyota FJ Cruiser and a Mini Cooper. However, with an estimated range of just 125 miles on a charge, it's certainly not destined to be a long-trip option.
VinFast
At the opposite end of the VinFast spectrum, the new VF Wild concept is a four-door pickup sized about like a midsize truck. Its aggressive lines mask the limited details VinFast provided about its powertrain. It's electric, but that's all they've reported so far.
Volkswagen
VW to Add ChatGPT Integration to Its Cars
Volkswagen showed off an updated 2024 Golf GTI, and once again it features buttons rather than haptic controls on its steering wheel. The GTI includes the brand's first ChatGPT artificial-intelligence integration.
The system can be activated by either pressing one of those new steering wheel buttons or via voice recognition. In addition to providing hands-free operation of controls such as the air-conditioning system, ChatGPT can also answer general-knowledge questions while on the go. VW says it may be able to provide more interaction in the future.
VW also says that the system will arrive in a host of new models globally, though it has yet to confirm it for the U.S. market.
