We all know the future of cars involves huge advances in technology, but considering how much cars have changed in the last 100 years, what could they look like in another 100? BMW's best guess is this, the Vision Next 100, built to celebrate the automaker's 100th birthday.
Thankfully, BMW's vision of the future doesn't involve shapeless jellybeans on wheels. Instead, it's a sports sedan, and it's not entirely autonomous.
When the driver is in charge, the car is in "Boost" mode, providing holographic information to aid the human operator. That includes a projected driving line like in a video game, a feature that makes obstacles appear temporarily translucent so you can see what's past them, and rows of color-changing tiles to alert you when a situation needs your attention.
Any time the driver doesn't want to deal with all that, the Vision Next 100 can take over driving responsibility in "Ease" mode. During autonomous driving the steering wheel folds away, the seats change position, and the HUD changes to a windshield-sized infotainment system.
From design standpoint, there's a lot of i8 in the Vision Next 100, and those design cues transition nicely from coupe to sedan. We're also fascinated by the stretching fenders that cover the wheels. They contribute to the car's incredibly low drag coefficient of 0.18, but they also look pretty cool.
Compared to a self-driving car with no steering wheel, we'd take this future-mobile every day of the week. For a lot of people driving is a hassle, but we like the idea of still being able to drive an attractive sports sedan when the opportunity is there.
One thing BMW didn't mention: What's under the hood? Is it fully electric? Hydrogen fuel cell? Turbine-hybrid? Who knows. Maybe we'll find out sometime in the next 100 years.
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