The Consumer Electronics Show, which took place Jan. 8-11 in Las Vegas, has long been a forum for tech companies to introduce their latest and greatest innovations. While it might conjure up images of 3D printers, high end smartphones and augmented reality, the automotive industry also had a major presence at the 2019 event. From new in-car technology to unique new vehicles, here are some of the more unique and innovative products revealed by automakers at CES 2019:
Hyundai’s Elevate UMV – Hyundai showed a new concept vehicle, the Elevate UMV, is a creation of the Automaker’s Center for Robotic-Augmented Design in Living Experiences, or CRADLE. It’s an electric modular vehicle with legs that can pivot and twist. This allows the vehicle to climb 5-foot walls or span large gaps. Hyundai has already built and tested a one-tenth scale proof of concept model.
Honda’s Dream Drive – Honda introduced a prototype for its mobile-based in-car dashboard that will provide a range of services for both drivers and passengers. The concept was first introduced at CES in 2017. Plans are to offer services like in-car payment technology, anti-distraction features and mixed reality games for passengers. Read more about it here.
Mercedes Benz’ Vision Urbanetic – Mercedes Benz showed off a working model of its Vision Urbanetic, an autonomous electric vehicle with a modular chassis. The vehicle has interchangeable modules for transporting people or product and can be fed real-time traffic reports. While they did create a working model, the automaker has said it does not yet plan on bringing the vehicle to market.
Toyota’s Guardian Safety – While other automakers introduced tech that may not be ready for several years, Toyota focused on more attainable goals with its Guardian safety system. Guardian uses a series of radar and cameras to monitor driver awareness and occasionally jumping in to add steering or braking inputs. Toyota representatives believe the system will roll out in the early 2020s.
Freightliner’s Cascadia Class 8 – Passenger vehicles weren’t alone in debuting new tech. Freightliner announced it will add systems like pedestrian detection, adaptive cruise control and traffic sign recognition to its Cascadia Class 8 trucks. While these features have been fairly common in passenger cars for years, most trucks don’t have them or only have them in a limited capacity. The Class 8 will go on sale in July.
With all the new vehicle technology inside and out, the automotive industry is quickly changing. While there are a lot of positive aspects of this new technology, it may be a challenge to adapt and its something the automotive industry should prepare for.
