Car companies remained surprisingly quiet during CES 2018. But they spoke up in 2019. From EVs you can buy in 2019 to super-futuristic mood-detecting technology, here are the major announcements we covered during the event. Autonomy and electrification reign supreme, but the show put a huge focus on connectivity.
The automotive industry made very little noise during the 2018 edition of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). It was much louder in 2019. Important car-related announcements were made by century-old automakers, tech giants, and game-changing startups no one has heard of before. Connectivity, autonomy, and electrification reigned supreme once again, with varying degrees of realism and feasibility. While full driving autonomy remains years away, CES confirmed 2019 will be the year of in-car connectivity.
We visited every nook and cranny in the Las Vegas Convention Center to check out the transportation-related technology on display. From electric hatchbacks going on sale in 2019 to a 22nd-century-esque walking car, here are the new cars, tech features, and trends we saw during CES 2019.
Audi harnessed the power of virtual reality (VR) to make a significant breakthrough in terms of in-car entertainment. Working jointly with Disney, it synced the forward, backward, and lateral movements of a car with a VR-based video game to turn a run-of-the-mill ride to the grocery store into an immersive experience for the rear passengers. Digital Trends participated in a demo of Audi Experience Drive at the Speed Vegas racetrack south of Las Vegas.
When our driver received the green light, the E-Tron took off with the silence and smoothness you expect from an electric car. He accelerated, braked, negotiated tight and wide turns, and hit speeds of up to 90 mph on the straight part of the track. We may as well have been on a different planet. We were immersed in outer space, where we helped Rocket Racoon and Iron Man blast asteroids into pieces while shooting lasers at attacking alien enemies.
Though Audi is playing a sizable role in bringing this technology to the market, it will be available to all carmakers and content developers. The technology is tentatively scheduled to hit the market in late 2020 or early 2021. Pricing information hasn’t been announced yet.
Don’t dismiss the flying taxi as a pie-in-the-sky concept best suited to science fiction films. Many of the aviation industry’s brightest minds — and some of the world’s wealthiest governments — are working on making them a reality in the not-too-distant future. Bell unveiled a full-scale prototype of a vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) air taxi at CES. Called Bell Nexus, its powered by a hybrid-electric propulsion system. Inside, a trio of screens provide key information about the flight and the drivetrain.
Bell didn’t provide a time frame for the Nexus’ release.
German components manufacturer Bosch had a big presence at CES 2019. It predicts that driverless electric shuttles will become a common sight in major cities all around the world, and its CES booth showcased how it plans to be a part of this nascent segment. Bosch has packed an array of innovations like shuttle-specific infotainment technology, electric motors, and a software platform that helps users find a ride into a shared, fully connected design study (shown above) that made its global debut at CES. There is even software so advanced it can identify a piece of gum on a seat or a spilled cup of coffee.
Bosch displayed other innovations at CES, including a technology called Perfectly Keyless that it promises will revolutionize keyless-entry systems while making them much more complicated to hack, and a way to bring radar-based electronic driving aids common in new cars to the world of motorcycles.
