10 Cool Things from CES 2019

AutoWeb 2019 CES Crowd Arch Logo ・ Photo by CES

For the past few years, the latest and greatest in present and future automotive technology has not made its debut at a car show. Instead, the automotive world has migrated to the Mojave Desert for the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). The 2019 Consumer Electronics Show ran from January 8 – 11, and everyone from major automotive manufacturers to one-man technology providers had displays, made presentations, hosted round table discussions, and showed off current capabilities and future dreams.

CES has been evolving as a technology showcase and marketplace since the first annual trade show in New York City in 1967. Owned and produced by the Consumer Technology Association, the show moved to Las Vegas in 1978, and is now the largest annual trade show in the world.

Here are 10 Cool Things we saw at CES 2019.

1) Toyota/Kenworth Zero Emission Big Rigs

Moving goods to and from a port requires big trucks. Because of the complex logistics of loading and unloading containers, trucks at the ports spend a lot of time idling, just waiting for the opportunity to work. With the current fleets of diesel trucks, that idling results in horrible emissions and terrible air quality in port areas.

Kenworth Trucks has partnered with Toyota Motor North America to develop 10 Kenworth T680 trucks powered by Toyota hydrogen fuel cell electric powertrains for operation at the Port of Los Angeles. The trucks will have a range of 300 miles, and can be quickly refueled at hydrogen fueling stations – no recharging time needed. Best of all, the fuel cell electric vehicles are classified as zero emissions, with only pure water vapor as a byproduct of operation. A totally silent idling big rig is a very cool thing to see.

Photo by Toyota

2) Audi Moves from Driving Experience to Experience the Drive

In one of the largest and most impressive displays in the Las Vegas Convention Center’s North Hall, Audi presented a mix of current vehicles and future technology concepts on a spiral platform that soared above the convention floor. Using an Audi e-tron, an Audi A8, and the Audi Aicon concept vehicle as test beds, the company demonstrated “how the journey from A to B can turn into an experience for all the senses.” Additionally, the Audi Immersive In-Car Entertainment project offered guests the opportunity to experience a dynamic, moving translation of a movie clip into a sensory journey within a stationary vehicle – showing that future cars will be more than simply transportation. With drivers free from vehicle operation, cars will become on-demand entertainment spaces.

Photo by Audi

3) Nissan’s Invisible-to-Visible Technology Concept

Now dig this: Just because you can’t see something, doesn’t mean that it can’t be seen. Connect to the greater consciousness, and you can see all. It sounds mystical when applied to human perception, but it is actually something that Nissan is working on with Invisible-to-Visible (I2V) future technology.

Each Nissan vehicle will constantly gather information about its environment and transmit that data to the cloud. At the same time, the vehicle receives information from the cloud – information that has been gathered and transmitted by other vehicles in the area. This Omni-Sensing technology gets filtered through Nissan’s Seamless Autonomous Mobility (SAM) technology in real time, and creates a 360-degree virtual space map around the car to be interpreted by ProPilot semiautonomous driver support so it can slow to avoid danger or an obstacle well before you see it. It’s the future, man.

Photo by Newspress USA

4) Hyundai’s Walking Car Concept

Cars are great when there are roads, and even when there are trails to follow. But how do you reach places where a vehicle with four fixed wheels just can’t travel? Enter Hyundai’s Walking Car Concept, which the company bills as the future of the first responder industry. The vehicle, called “Elevate,” is designed to be the Ultimate Mobility Vehicle (UMV) in the event of a natural disaster.

Looking like a cross between an insect and a gondola, Elevate has four articulating robotic legs that hold wheels at the end. By extending its legs and using its wheels like feet, Elevate can literally walk over rocks and debris. When obstacles have been conquered, the legs fold under the body of the vehicle, and secure four-wheel operation is achieved. The futuristic vehicle has great promise for unique situations and challenges, including non-emergency situations like access for the disabled.

Photo by Hyundai

5) Toyota Wants to be Your Guardian

While automotive and technology companies struggle with the distinctions between levels of autonomous driving, Toyota Research Institute (TRI) has been working on a different axis of the driver assistance equation. TRI has developed a system they call Toyota Guardian. Rather than replacing the human driver, Guardian aims to amplify human control of the vehicle.

With the Toyota Guardian, the driver is in control of the vehicle at all times, except when it anticipates or identifies a pending incident and employs a corrective response -- in coordination with driver input. It does this with blended envelope control – a system inspired by modern fighter jet operation. There’s no “on-off” switch for the blended envelope control. It balances human and autonomous systems to work as teammates to get the best input from each. Toyota plans to offer Guardian as an automated safety system to the auto industry at large, with terms to be determined.

Photo by CES

6) Where’s My Flying Car?

We’ve been waiting for the flying car for over 100 years. One of the promising examples on display at CES 2019 was the PAL-V Liberty, which is billed as “A Car That Flies, A Plane That Drives.” PAL-V is a Dutch company, and they’ve designed the Liberty to meet existing European and U.S. standards for certification for both air and ground driving.

The Liberty is a two-passenger gyroplane with two Rotax engines running on pump gas. It is designed to take off on a short runway (minimum 600 feet), and can land on an even shorter stretch – almost vertically in certain wind conditions. Once on the ground, it can operate like a car after a five-to-ten-minute conversion, and you can start driving on public roadways. Got $2,500? You can get a reservation to buy a $399,000 PAL-V Liberty, with promised delivery in 2020.

Photo by PAL-V

7) Mercedes-Benz Unveils the 2020 CLA

In addition to concept cars and technology showcases, Mercedes-Benz used the platform of CES to unveil an actual production vehicle – the 2020 CLA. Like the larger CLS, the CLA is billed as a coupe, but it is actually a four-door sedan with coupe-like styling.

The first-generation CLA debuted as a 2014 model, and the latest version comes with refined exterior and interior design. The new CLA is completely at home at an electronics show, boasting the latest in Mercedes-Benz’s capabilities and features. The latest iteration of MBUX is included, and now recognizes control commands through movements. ENERGIZING COACH will be available in the CLA, a feature first found in the S-Class sedan that links various comfort systems in the vehicle together to enhance physical comfort and performance while driving and during a break.

Photo by Mercedes-Benz

8) Byton M-Byte Gets Closer

The rise of the electric vehicle is also fueling the rise of new automotive brands. While some have popped and then fizzled (Fisker, Coda), others have flourished (Tesla). A promising newcomer, Byton, displayed its production M-Byte SUV model, positioning it as “a next-generation smart device for every user.”

The big reveal at CES was Byton’s Shared Experience Display (SED), an in-car display that Byton claims is the world’s largest for a production automobile. At 48 inches wide, the curved display has three areas for content. The driver interacts with the SED via a seven-inch tablet, and front passenger and driver can interact with it via an eight-inch touchpad. Rear-seat passengers get their own independent screens that share content with the SED. The M-Byte is currently in full-scale prototype testing in Nanjing, where it is being built. Customer deliveries should begin in 2020.

Photo by Newspress USA

9) BMW Self-Riding Motorcycle Demonstrations

The sight of a full-size adventure bike rolling through a demonstration course without a rider onboard is a jolt to the senses, no matter how many times you’ve seen it on video. BMW has released footage of its self-riding R 1200 GS before, so the bike has been seen before. But watching it start, accelerate, perform cornering maneuvers, slow down and come to a stop on its own is mind-blowing.

The technology that enables this demonstration can be used to improve rider assistance systems on future bikes, since the bike will have the ability to recognize dangerous situations and master difficult riding maneuvers. Even if self-riding motorcycles never reach our roadways, it’s a very cool thing to see one put through its paces.

Photo by BMW

10) Partners for Automated Vehicle Education (PAVE) Coalition Launches

As the future of autonomous vehicles looms ahead, how much does the average consumer really know about the technology that they will be forced to confront? Advanced vehicle technologies and self-driving vehicles will affect everyone – drivers, passengers, pedestrians, bicyclists, and bystanders. “PAVE recognizes the need to invest in public information – in making sure consumers and policymakers understand what’s real, what’s possible, and what is rumor or speculation,” said Mark Del Rosso, President, Audi of America, an inaugural co-chair of PAVE along with Deborah A.P. Hersman, President and CEO of the National Safety Council.

Other PAVE members include AAA, American Public Transportation Association, Autonomous Intelligent Driving, Aurora, Consumer Technology Association, Cruise, Daimler INRIX, Intel Mobileye, Munich Reinsurance America, Inc., National Council on Aging, National Federation of the Blind, NVIDIA, SAE International, Securing America’s Future Energy, Toyota, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Volkswagen, Voyage, Waymo, and Zoox.