The 7 Vehicles That Stole the Show at CES 2024
CES 2024, formerly known as the Consumer Electronics Show, occurs annually in Las Vegas at the start of the year. As an expo of everything that falls under the rubric of technology, from smart waffle irons to autonomous earthmovers, it has an unrivaled scope. This comprehensiveness is matched only by the scale of the venue in which it occurs, the Las Vegas Convention Center, which has somehow expanded since our last visit. To wit, in our efforts to bring you this list of the coolest automotive tech to emerge from this year’s show, we walked over nine miles on the show floor.
But all that perambulation paid off. We found all manner of intriguing, utilitarian, and oddball implementations of technological solutions. Some of these are arriving imminently. Some are due in the near future. Some are prognostications that may never see actuation. But all share the (sometimes naive) faith that technology can make our lives, and our world, better.
Photo: Courtesy of Ultraleap1/7Ultraleap Mid-Air Haptics
We now expect our cars to act as mobile office, concert hall, movie theater, navigator, digital assistant, and gaming system. And even their giant LCD screens aren’t big enough to handle all these tasks safely. This cool system allows the entire windshield to become a screen, and uses natural gesture control and tactile feedback from targeted sound waves to let you click on projections in midair without taking your eyes off the road.
Mercedes-Benz AG – Communications & Marketing2/7Mercedes-Benz Sound Drive
Electric cars lack a historically compelling audio soundtrack, one traditionally derived from the controlled explosions of gasoline-powered vehicles. So Mercedes teamed up with Grammy Award–winning musician will.i.am, formerly of the Black Eyed Peas, to create this app, which morphs and transforms recorded music based on inputs from a car’s accelerator, brakes, steering wheel, and suspension.
Photo: Courtesy of Honda3/7Honda Zero Series
Honda was a leader in vehicular electrification, releasing its Insight well before Toyota hit the market with the now ubiquitous Prius. Honda is now ready to go full force into fully electric vehicles. It’s new Zero Series—presaged by this angular Lamborghini-esque four-door Saloon and commodious toaster-esque E-Space Hub—is at once handsome, practical, compelling, and radical, all brand hallmarks.
Photo: Courtesy of Volkswagen4/7Volkswagen Chat GPT
VW is the first mass-production carmaker to integrate Chat GPT artificial intelligence (AI) into its in-car infotainment system. Now, using VW’s natural voice-control interface, occupants can ask questions about things like navigation, destinations, or reservations, and have a Chat GPT bot answer back. Are the responses accurate, or AI “hallucinations?” You’ll find out (or not!) when you get to your destination.
Photo: Courtesy of Harman5/7Harman Seat Sonic
In its quest to create individuated sound environments for each passenger’s music, phone calls, or navigation instructions, Harman—steward of premium audio brands such as Harman Kardon, JBL, and AKG—has shifted its focus. Now the signal must start closer to the individual. Seat Sonic, with in-chair woofers and tweeters, accomplishes this, and can replace or supplement traditional dash, door, and roof- and pillar-mounted speakers.
Photo: Courtesy of Kia6/7Kia PBV
PBV stands for Platform Beyond Vehicle, and this line of electric urban runabouts—built on a scalable, battery-powered platform—is intended for all manner of work vehicle solutions: small urban runabouts for ride share and last-mile delivery, larger vans to haul passengers or cargo, and large upright rolling boxes that can act as mobile pop-up shops, offices, or restaurants. All with Kia’s cool faceted design.
Photo: Courtesy of BMW7/7BMW Teleoperated Parking
BMW mitigates the pain of parking. Using a car’s onboard Wi-Fi connection and other existing semi-autonomous driving tech, remote operators working far off-site can take over the wheel and controls once you arrive at your destination—an airport, sporting event, or even a hotel or rental car agency. You hop out curbside, and they drive at low speed, find a space, and park your car—all using a rig that looks like a driving game console.