The best automotive news of CES 2014 – The Verge

BMW i3: driving the electric rebel in Munich’s stable

2014-01-17T08:36:13-05:00

BMW i3

Let's just get this out on the table: I'm a BMW fan. I've owned a couple of them over the years. There are multiple BMW-branded articles of clothing in my closet. I've written treatises on the misappropriation of the company's emblems. Hell, my Twitter handle is an homage to the slogan of BMW's Motorsport division, "M Power."

You might say that I take BMW seriously. So when I had an opportunity to go on a multi-hour drive of the curious, all-electric i3 at CES last week, I was happy to do so - but I had my reservations. The i3 doesn't look like a BMW. It doesn't sound like a BMW. It doesn't suck BMW gasoline into a BMW engine. Could it poss …

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The car of the future is in Detroit and the desert

2014-01-14T10:00:03-05:00

stingray

For journalists at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit on Monday, it was a perilously short weekend. Many, if not most, were in the desert just a couple days ago. It's a sign of the times: CES in Las Vegas has suddenly become an auto show - arguably with the same level of clout and significance as NAIAS, a stalwart of the auto show circuit.

But make no mistake, these are evolving into very different kinds of auto shows. NAIAS is a pure car expo through and through; it's where Mercedes-Benz unveiled its redesigned C-Class this week, BMW is showing production versions of the iconic M3 and M4, and Ford has an all-new …

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Automakers want to see through walls in the name of safety

2014-01-10T11:08:34-05:00

Ford V2V 1020

The cars we found parked on a closed course across the street from the Las Vegas Convention Center this week can't actually see through walls, but they come pretty close: Ford is here at CES demonstrating Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communication (V2V), a promising technology under development that could have a significant impact on road safety.

V2V has been in development for a number of years, using 802.11p - a simplified form of Wi-Fi geared specifically at the automotive industry - to beam bite-sized pieces of information between nearby cars. The specific mode that Ford is demonstrating is known as "Where I Am," which simply broadcasts your car' …

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What happens if you fall asleep in a self-driving car? Audi knows

2014-01-08T11:23:17-05:00

Audi

Audi brought several high-tech car demos to CES this week - as it did last year - including two that took us out into the mean streets of Las Vegas, subject to the whims of rush hour traffic. Fortunately, we had a couple interesting new features making our bumper-to-bumper commutes just a little bit easier.

First, we tested a system that feeds upcoming traffic light data directly into the cockpit. While driving, the next light on your road is indicated in green with a suggested speed next to it - if it says 45mph, for instance, that means you'll make the light if you're going 45. When the light's red or about to turn red, the system indicat …

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The electric grand prix: the world’s first Formula E car packs a punch

2014-01-07T20:01:15-05:00

Spark-Renault SRT_01E Formula E (STOCK)

Electric cars have a bad reputation as ugly, expensive, slow cars with limited range. Cars like the Tesla Model S have gone a long way towards reversing public opinion, but what if there was a Formula 1 for electric cars? Come this September, there will be: it's called Formula E, and we've just seen the series' very first race car here at CES. It's called the Spark-Renault SRT_01E, and it has been made in conjunction with legendary motorsport companies like McLaren, Williams, and Dallara.

There's nothing slow about this electric car: it maxes out at roughly 140mph and accelerates from 0 - 62mph in just 3 seconds. But unlike its motorsport c …

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The self-drifting car: taking a BMW to the limit in Las Vegas

2014-01-07T16:28:23-05:00

BMW CES 2014

Self-driving cars aren't supposed to make you puke, are they?

A couple laps in BMW's latest autonomous driving demo, taking place here at CES this week, are all it took to get me feeling a little woozy. And there's a good reason for that: the car was whipping itself around an infield road track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway at the very outer limits of its capabilities, guided only be its own high-resolution GPS and the usual array of sensors found on every automakers' self-driving cars.

There's method to BMW's madness

As thrilling and entertaining as the ride was, there's actually method to BMW's madness. The company notes that self-driving s …

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A tablet for your car? Audi shows Android-powered Smart Display at CES

2014-01-07T13:36:21-05:00

audi smart display

Audi didn't show a new car today - it showed a new tablet. The so-called Audi Smart Display integrates with the car's systems via Wi-Fi, letting passengers control the radio and access the internet via the car's built-in LTE connection (the company just announced a new partnership with AT&T for connectivity yesterday evening) on the 10.2-inch display. It's also a ruggedized unit that can be used in extremely cold temperatures, so it's clearly meant to be taken beyond the car once you reach your destination. The Smart Display uses Nvidia's Tegra T40 processor - a Tegra 4 variant - which means it's no slouch, but not quite on pace with 2014's …

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Mercedes-Benz announces in-car integration with Nest thermostat

2014-01-07T11:57:01-05:00

MB Nest integration

At CES today, Mercedes-Benz announced that it will be adding Nest support to its vehicles, meaning that drivers will be able to tweak the temperature at home right through their dashboards. The integration makes quite a bit of sense - remote control is one of the big features of Nest's popular connected thermostats - but Mercedes is taking it a step further: you'll be able to set your house to automatically heat up or cool down when you're on your way home.

The connected car has been one of the main stories of CES this year - multiple automakers are debuting apps and app platforms at the show - but many of the announcements have focused on …

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Google’s Open Automotive Alliance: the battle for the dashboard is now

2014-01-06T17:32:24-05:00

Android 4.0 welcome robot (STOCK)

Last night's announcement of the Open Automotive Alliance - a new industry group helmed by Google and top-tier automakers like Audi, GM, and Honda - served as the loudest call yet of CES's rapid transformation over the past couple years into a car show. Yes, not just a car-friendly show, an actual car show: automakers from BMW to Volvo have announcements lined up for this week. More than ever, keynote addresses and press conferences from auto industry executives now stand shoulder-to-shoulder with their counterparts from Sony and Samsung.

The strongest evidence yet that CES is a car show

CES - and the futurism that is inexorably linked to it …

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Toyota will sell a fuel-cell car around the world in 2015

2014-01-06T16:00:02-05:00

Toyota fuel cell concept

For automakers, CES is often dominated by self-driving and the ever-growing notion of the connected car, but Toyota's taking a more environmental tack with today's announcement: it's reiterating the call that it will have a hydrogen fuel-cell car for sale to consumers next year that produces nothing more than water vapor from the tailpipe. Toyota has said in recent months that it would have fuel-cell tech in consumers' hands "around 2015," but this is the first time that it's locking next year in stone - and it'll be a global launch, including the US.

Toyota has been driving this camouflaged fuel-cell prototype, based on the Lexus HS250h, arou …

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