There was a time when the automotive industry and the consumer technology industry were very different from each other. But with the rise of electric vehicles and the likes of Tesla, the line between both is getting blurry.
Case in point, some of the most-viewed car review videos on YouTube come from consumer technology creators like MKBHD and others. Another symbol of this confluence between the automotive and technology worlds is the partnership between Sony and Honda to make cars under the “Afeela” label.
With this, we can expect to see more high-tech cutting edge electric vehicles in the future. Here are five of the coolest such concept cars we have seen in the recent past.
Afeela
Sony at CES 2024 once again demonstrated its EV prototype car under the Afeela banner. Sony Honda Mobility COO Izumi Kawanishi drove the car on to stage using a PlayStation 5 DualSense controller. While the company was not very forthcoming with performance specs, it did show how the car will have a huge ultrawide dashboard screen that extends the width of the car with the bumper packing another screen.
Honda 0 saloon
While almost every other major global car manufacturer has jumped on the EV bandwagon, Honda has remained absent from the fray now for the most part. But the company decided to make a splash in the EV world this year by displaying its new Honda 0 (zero) series EV concepts.
The Honda 0 series saloon will be the flagship electric vehicle of the car manufacturer when (and if) it is turned into reality. It will sit on a new dedicated EV platform and features a low and wide exterior. It makes extensive use of sustainable materials both inside and outside. It will also come with what Honda is calling “posture control” to help drivers in many different conditions.
Honda 0 space-hub
The saloon was futuristic to begin with but the Honda space-hub looks like it belongs to an even more distant future, when fully-autonomous robotic driving has been achieved. The Space-hub looks like a kind of minibus or van that seats four people, two abreast and two facing each other. Needless to say, both the Saloon and the space-hub seem like they are very far from being production models so it might be a while before we actually see something like this driving on our roads. And even then, there is a good chance that the production model would look radically different from the concepts.
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BMW Vision Neu Klasse X
BMW’s Neu Klasse is its answer to the likes of Tesla, a company that is more and more likely to eat into the German manufacturers’ market share as people shift towards electric vehicles. The Bavarian motor major recently unveiled its Neu Klasse X, which will be built on a new platform for electric vehicles and could debut as soon as 2025.
While BMW already has electric cars like the i7, the Neu Klasse X is a vision into the future. Think of it as an electric version of the BMW X3 that people will drive into the late 2020s. Despite featuring a minimalistic dashboard with screens, as has been made fashionable by Tesla, the BMW Neu Klasse X also has buttons for some functions like seat adjustments. If BMW says the future of vehicles will have buttons, it hopefully will.
Mercedes-Benz Concept CLA Class
It would be hard to leave Mercedes out of a conversation if you make a mention of BMW and the same goes here. The company unveiled its Concept CLA class at the Munich Motor Show last year and it is designed to be an electric vehicle that offers up to 750 kilometres of promised range. The company also says that it will come with an 800V architecture (just like the Tesla Cybertruck) and 250 kW DC charging that can potentially give up to 400 kilometres of range in 15 minutes. Just like the BMW Neu Klasse X, this car looks closer to production than Honda’s 0 series. So now, all we have to do is wait.
