CES 2023 for fleets: From urban shuttles to AI-dashboards
At this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES2023), automakers and their tech partners revealed new services, unveiled plans, showed off concepts and provided an exciting projection of future vehicles. Most notably, the fleet and mobility world has met various developments not only in terms of vehicle tech but in mobility, software and hardware. Here are the most eye-catching innovations for fleets:
ZF unveils autonomous electric shuttle
ZF, the commercial vehicle supplier, unveiled the autonomous electric shuttle, the Next Generation Shuttle (main photo) at CES 2023. Equipped with Level 4 autonomous driving technology, Next Generation Shuttle has a range of 129 km and can carry up to 22 passengers. The futuristic shuttle, designed for urban mobility, will be directed by ZF's Virtual Driver software, in accordance with data gathered by sensors. With a top speed of 40 km/h, ZF aims to reach 80 km/h in the future.
Luminar grows its Sentinel platform
Lidar technology developer Luminar partnered with Mercedes-Benz last year and acquired Civil Maps, a lidar data company, to bolster its Sentinel platform. The acquisition will integrate Civil Maps' ultra-detailed and automatically updated city maps into Sentinel. The fully-fledged software solution aims to enable fully autonomous vehicles in future; Luminar's partners, Volvo and SAIC, are to showcase cars equipped with the lidar technology.
Sony and Honda unveil the Afeela concept
After making a thrilling announcement of a partnership to develop a joint electric SUV in mid-2022, Honda and Sony revealed their first prototype at CES 2023 as the Afeela. Afeela is to have extensive sensor and infotainment technology, as it has a total of 45 cameras and a Media Bar constantly providing information about the battery and the vehicle. Sony Honda Mobility says the pre-orders will start in mid-2025.
Stellantis's Free2move is to expand operations in the US
Mobility service provider Free2move, a brand of Stellantis, announced at CES 2023 plans to expand its services in the US in 2023. Having acquired ShareNow in the summer of 2022, Free2move continues the strategy to spread across the US and Europe. The plans include covering five cities by the end of 2023 and increasing its fleet with 3,000 cars in the US. By 2030, Free2Move plans to reach 200 new mobility markets globally.
Adapting virtual experience to any car
Along with all the futuristic tech presented at CES 2023, there's a device capable of adding Virtual Reality (VR) gaming features to any vehicle. Holoride, a VR company, revealed the holoride retrofit, which enables playing multiplayer games and access to VR applications in the vehicle. Holoride retrofit has a battery time of 14 hours on a single charge and connects up to two VR headsets via Bluetooth.
Monitoring the health of drivers
Harman, a subsidiary of Samsung, introduced a new feature for its Ready Care technology at CES 2023. Launched in September 2022, Ready Care monitors driver activity to avoid distraction and takes reactions to mitigate risks. Now, Ready Care is upgraded to measure more human vitals such as breathing and heart rate. The safety technology sensors will also detect children left in the vehicles unattended.
Goodyear shows up with 90% sustainable tire
Busy with developing electric vehicle (EV) tires in compliance with environmental concerns, Goodyear presented the prototype tire at CES 2023, 90% of it produced with sustainable materials. This rate represents a 20% increase compared to the tire revealed in last year's event. Goodyear used organic and inorganic materials to develop the green tire, which will significantly impact decarbonisation while improving EV range and fuel efficiency.
In another announcement, Goodyear said that the road friction detection technology, SightLine, has been deployed in Canada. SightLine is developed with the collaboration of Gatik, an autonomous company, and aims to enable autonomous driving in winter conditions by monitoring tire performance through sensors.
Chrysler unveils AI-powered dashboard concept
Chrysler revealed the highly futuristic Synthesis interior concept demonstrator at CES 2023, providing a glimpse into the interior design of future cars. The luxurious interior is 100% sustainable, including the instrument panel produced of industrial and ocean plastics. At the core of the concept will lie the AI-powered trio of technology platforms STLA Smart Cockpit, STLA Brain and STLA AutoDrive. The Synthesis concept, combined with this trio, will offer Level 3 autonomous driving with advanced infotainment and driver assistance.
ChargePoint to expand charging stations in North America
EV charging provider Charging Point, Mercedes-Benz and MN8 Energy have announced at CES 2023 the plans to increase the DC fast charging stations in the US and Canada. MN8, a US solar, stationary power and renewable energy provider, will install more than 400 charging hubs across North America. The Mercedes-Benz charging hubs will be available to all EV drivers and offer additional benefits for Mercedes-Benz customers. ChargePoint Express Plus will power the charging hubs.
The main photo is courtesy of ZF. The credits of the following images belong to Business Wire, Sony, Free2Move, Holoride, Harman, Goodyear, Chrysler and ChargePoint, respectively. CES2023 continues until Sunday 8th January, 2023 in Las Vegas, USA.
